


things we said today

by Kit_Kat21



Series: Beatles Tribute [33]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Father-Daughter Relationship, Father-Son Relationship, Husbands, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Past Torture, Wives
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:48:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 32,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26451361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kit_Kat21/pseuds/Kit_Kat21
Summary: “Are you happy?” He felt like he had to ask her that at least once a week; just to make sure.“Always,” Sansa smiled. “Are you?”Jon sighed before he could stop himself. He really needed a cigarette. It wasn’t what he necessarily wanted but he couldn’t have what he truly wanted. “I think I’m still working on it.”****Jon, Sansa and their family's lives in Greywater in the Neck. A series of one-shots.
Relationships: Jon Snow/Sansa Stark
Series: Beatles Tribute [33]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/905319
Comments: 574
Kudos: 322





	1. Haircuts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always considered this song my "white whale" because I could never think of when I could use it - so I decided to just use it whether it has anything to do with the story or not. The Beatles wrote and recorded so many songs, this is definitely one of those that were "lost" among the shuffle but I love it. 
> 
> It was written by John Lennon and was on the band's _White Album_. Many listeners, including Paul McCartney, believed that the song was about heroin, as the term "monkey" is often used as another name for the drug. Although Lennon and Yoko Ono used the drug, McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr did not so they never really got the song, they all admitted. John had said it was about his future wife, Yoko, so no one knows for sure.

…

Myrcella Baratheon, receptionist for Snow Construction, knocked on Jon’s open office door and he turned his head away from his computer. She smiled the instant he saw that it was her and she held up the envelope in her hands.

“Just arrived.”

She stepped into the room, crossing to his desk and setting the envelope down in front of him. Jon looked to the clock in the corner of the computer screen before leaning back in his chair with a tired sigh. Just a little after four and in this world, Friday were early quitting days.

“Cutting it close,” Jon said more to himself as he took the envelope and ripped it open.

He had hesitated years earlier when Baratheon Projects approached him and offered to put Snow Construction under their company umbrella. Jon had worked so hard to build his own company from the ground up and he didn’t know if he wanted to sell it – even if he still had complete control over it.

But then Robert and Stannis Baratheon said something to him that immediately got him considering it.

“We’ll handle payroll.”

That was something that instantly had Jon taking them seriously because if there was one thing Jon hated doing as he ran his own business, it was payroll. Not because his company didn’t have enough money to cover everyone’s paychecks. It was just time consuming and so easy to screw up.

Baratheon Projects and their affiliated companies did direct deposits but they sent pay stubs every other Friday so employees had a hard statement of how much they earned, how much was taken out for taxes and insurance, their retirement plan, etc. The envelope – sent priority mail – usually arrived on Fridays sometime around lunch and Jon would have plenty of time to hand out the pay stubs to all of his people but today, it had obviously been running late.

As Jon separated the pay stubs of those in the office to those at the job site, Myrcella walked to the glass tank Jon had against the wall, smiling as she did. It was October and Jon and Sansa had to keep it in here until Christmas Eve, having nowhere else to hide it where Julia wouldn’t stumble upon it. Inside the reptile glass case, there was the ringneck snake – black with a yellow underbelly and a yellow circle around its neck. Myrcella knew that Sansa had done her research and this one was one of the greatest small pet snakes to have; if a person _had_ to have a snake. 

“I can’t wait to see the video of Christmas morning when Julia sees this,” Myrcella said, looking down at the coiled serpent resting in the natural bark bedding that covered the floor of the tank. There was also a fake cave, a tree log on the ground and another that leaned against the side for him to hide in or to climb. It was quite the set up.

“She’s going to break decibel levels,” Jon smiled. He stood up. “Alright. Could you pass these out? And when you do, you can tell them that they can head home for the day.”

Myrcella returned to his desk to take the stack of pay stubs he held out for her. “Thanks, boss. Anything fun planned this weekend?”

“I have to take George and Max to get their haircut,” Jon said, leaning down to start saving his work so he could shut everything down.

“That sounds like it will be a blast,” Myrcella said with a slight laugh, already heading out the door.

And though she was laughing, Jon knew that Myrcella knew exactly what kind of evening Jon was in for, taking George and Max to the barber shop. And it wouldn’t be a fun one.

…

Jon called Sansa as he left the office, asking her if she could get Max and George ready so he could just swing by and they could climb right into his truck. Logistically, it made sense to get them first, stop by the jobsite and drop off the pay stubs to men there before cutting them loose for the day and then head to the barbershop. If he didn’t do it this way, there would just be a lot of back and forth and he didn’t necessarily want to take the boys to the site but it was just how things had to be today.

As promised, when Jon pulled into their driveway, Sansa had George and Max ready and waiting for him.

“Hi, dad!” George exclaimed as Jon got out, leaving the engine running.

“Hey, guys. Ready to go?” Jon asked, swooping Max up and carrying him to the backseat so he could get him buckled into his booster seat.

“I want my head shaved!” Max exclaimed what he had been exclaiming for the past week.

When they first moved here, Sansa hadn’t wanted to cut Max’s hair because he had curls just like his daddy and Sansa loved Max’s curls too much for them to be gone. But the humidity of the Neck did nothing for Max and Julia – who had the curls, too – and even buying anti-frizz spray seemed to help just a little bit.

Max then decided he would grow his hear out just as long as Jon’s so he could wear it tied back but the boy had little patience, waiting for it to grow, and all of this hair was making him cranky and feeling too hot. He wanted it all gone. Sansa didn’t, but she was trusting Jon to make the final decision at the barber shop.

“You’re not getting a shaved head,” Sansa told him for the countless time and made sure George had got in on the other side and buckled his seat belt. “Be good,” she then told the boy, kissing his head. She came around to the other side of the truck and kissed Max’s head. “Be good,” she told him as well.

Jon closed the door, cutting Max’s whining short, and he looked to Sansa. She smiled and he returned it before leaning in and giving her a kiss. “I have to stop at the jobsite and drop the pay stubs off.”

“You said,” Sansa nodded. “Just don’t let the boys wander _too_ much there. They’ll have nightmares.”

“It’s not that bad, Sansa,” Jon smiled a little.

“They literally filmed more than one horror movie there, Jon,” she reminded him and Jon just smiled.

He leaned in and gave her another kiss while reaching into his back pocket. “Pay stub,” he said. He didn’t say anything further and though Sansa knew it was payday, she hadn’t had time to look at their account to check on the deposit. If she had, he would have gotten a much earlier phone call.

Sansa unfolded it now, expecting to see the same number that was always there, but instead, she gasped and her eyes flew to Jon. “What…” she began to ask but she couldn’t even think of the words to finish that.

Jon shrugged. “Everyone got a little bump in pay.”

“A little?” She was back to staring down at the number.

“I told you that if we won the GSH job, we’d all see a little pay increase,” he said, keeping it as casual as he could because it wasn’t just a little increase and he was very well aware of that. Sansa was, too – especially since she was usually the one who handled paying the bills.

When he and Stannis talked about, Jon made sure that all of his people would be taken care of; not just him. He wouldn’t be able to do any of this on his own and his people needed to be rewarded as well. This one job was going to last for the next three years – at least – and it wasn’t going to be an easy one to put it mildly. And though the job had just begun, a little bump in pay already showed them that this massive project could only bring good things for them and the company.

Jon did get more than the others – though no one had to know that. It was Jon’s company, Jon was the boss and Jon had already dedicated plenty of hours, putting the bids and material lists together.

Sansa looked to him again and her eyes were noticeably wet. When Jon first talked to her about making this move to Greywater in the Neck, he said the opportunities for his company would be many and there would be a difference in their finances. He was glad he could keep those promises to her.

“Maybe we could take the kids out tomorrow and celebrate,” Jon suggested. “Bowling maybe? And then I was thinking we could swing by the fabric store and pick you up some of those fabrics you’ve been wanting.”

Sansa’s eyes grew wetter. “That sounds wonderful. I am so proud of you,” she said softly and Jon smiled. “But we’re putting the rest into our savings. We’re not blowing through your raise without budgeting.”

“Of course,” Jon agreed, almost laughing. He took a step in, his arms sliding around her waist, and he kissed her softly on the lips.

“Max, stop! Dad!” George shouted from inside the truck.

Sansa smiled against Jon’s lips and she then pulled her head back. “I’m going to bake a cake while you’re gone so we can celebrate tonight.”

“For the raise?” Jon asked. He gave her one more kiss and smile before opening the door and climbing back into his truck.

“Nope,” Sansa shook her head, smiling and closing his door for him. “For surviving the barbershop with Max.”

…

When it was built in 1915, Greywater State Hospital was the premiere mental hospital in all of Westeros and remained that way for the next few decades it was open. Also, of the four floors, the entire fourth was a high-security prison for the criminally insane. It closed in 1986 due to budgetary reasons and because activist groups felt that keeping people in mental hospitals was cruel and would not stop protesting.

For those not able to enter smaller facilities, the rest of the patients wandered away – the majority becoming homeless; not keeping up on their meds. It was only when the rich and powerful in King’s Landing saw the explosion of the homeless population in _their_ neighborhoods, well, many of them stepped in to take action.

It was decided that Greywater State Hospital would open again after all of these years. Money was plenty and a large medical staff was ready to go but for a monstrous project, it wouldn’t be open tomorrow. The hospital had been closed for over thirty years. Vandals and scavengers had done plenty of destruction; not to mention that after more than thirty years, nature tends to take things over again.

First, asbestos companies and exterminators came, cleaning out all wings and floors, and now, everyone else descended onto the building. The whole building needed all new plumbing and electrical wiring and those two things were priority. Jon had six guys currently on site and he had already talked to Stannis about needing more.

From the back, George and Max both leaned forward as Jon turned off the main road and began driving up the two lane driveway, the building looming in front of them. It was the biggest building in the North and it stood in front of them, filling up the window. Max felt like an ant, looking up at a castle.

Jon pulled the truck in next to the Snow Construction trailer and once he killed the engine, he turned back to look at his sons. “Alright. I just have to drop something off to my guys here and it won’t take long. You can get out but you are _not_ going to wander around. What aren’t you going to do?”

“Wander around,” both boys repeated.

“Good,” Jon gave them a smile and all got out of the truck.

The boys stood there at first, looking up at the building, hearing all sorts of hammering and whirring of electric tools, and Jon went to the trailer, climbing the steps and opening the door. He poked his head in and then came down again, pulling out his cell phone.

“Aunt Val!” George shouted first and Jon lifted his head.

Coming down the front steps at the hospital’s main doors, Val saw them and was smiling. The boys took off running to her and she pulled off her work gloves just in time for both to run right into her and she wrapped her arms around them both. Jon smiled, following after them.

Jon had other electricians in the Neck with him, of course, but when he saw the scale of the job at GSH, he knew he needed Val. She was still the best electrician he knew and she could easily lead the rest of the team.

“How’s it going?” Jon asked once he was in front of her.

“It’s a mess,” Val didn’t mince words. She took off her hardhat and held it under her arm. “Near the end, I can tell that they tried to rewire certain wings without doing the others. There’s different switches and sockets everywhere. And the lighting in the morgue? They still have old round pick sockets down there.”

“The morgue?” George gasped at that, his eyes bright with excitement.

“I’m going to be here, on site, Monday morning at seven,” Jon told her while pulling out the pay stubs from his back pocket. “We’ll do an entire walk through, take notes and pictures and I’ll talk with Stannis. We’ll figure out how many more electricians we need.” As he talked, he reached down and grabbed the back of the hood on Max’s sweatshirt because the boy had started to head towards the steps. “In the meantime, hand these out, be done for the day and go home.”

“Thanks, Jon,” Val smiled, taking the pay stubs from him. “Do you ever get used to the swamp?” She asked, waving her hand to the side of her face, needing a fan.

“Eventually,” he promised her. “But your apartment is on a hill so at least you don’t need a boat when it floods and you’re cut off from things.”

“Jesus,” she sighed and Jon grinned. “Edd is going to _love_ it,” she then commented.

Edd was another that was going to be down here to help with the job but he wasn’t needed yet so he was still in Wintertown, the foreman of Snow Construction up there, while Val was renting an apartment in Greywater and they would visit one another on the weekends.

“Dinner. Sunday. Don’t even think about _not_ coming,” Jon told her as he bent down, hefting Max up.

The boy was fidgeting and he wanted to wander and Jon just couldn’t have that. He needed hard-toed boots and a hardhat to go inside. The last thing Jon needed was the boy stepping on a nail or a piece of _anything_ falling down on his head. Sansa might not forgive him for that.

“Does Sansa need me to bring anything?” Val asked.

“I doubt it. You need me for anything else right this second?” He asked.

“Myrcella called to tell me that you were on the way here and she told me you’re taking them for a haircut,” Val smiled as she walked with Jon back to the truck, Jon still holding Max and Val’s arm slung over George’s shoulders. “That sounds fun.”

Jon gave her a frown and Val pursed her lips to keep from laughing. “I’m glad my life is so amusing to you and Myrcella,” he grumbled.

His answer just made the laugh Val was trying to keep in fall from her mouth.

…

Jon wasn’t worried about George. Not only had the boy calmed down – considerably – since the move but also, George just didn’t care about his hair that much. He just didn’t want it in his eyes.

  
And sure enough, in the barbershop, in the leather chair, George sat without fidgeting as Jon’s usual barber, Alec, snipped and trimmed without George really paying attention. The television on the wall was turned on and instead, George watched a rerun episode of _Criminal Minds_. When Alec was done, he brushed George’s neck with the brush and looked to Jon for his thoughts on the naturally windswept cut he had given.

“Looks good,” Jon nodded and Alec smiled, unsnapping the apron bib from around George and George hopped out of the chair in no time at all. “Do you like it, George?”

George finally looked at his reflection and lifted a hand, ruffling the top of his head. “Yeah. Looks good. Thanks, Alec,” he then smiled at the man.

“Anytime, George,” Alec smiled back.

“Go sit over there and stay,” Jon said and George nodded, headed to one of the chairs in front of the main window, his eyes still glued to the television. Jon made sure he was sitting before looking back to Alec. The man was older; had been a barber for many years so Jon didn’t doubt that the man had dealt with screaming kids before but he hadn’t dealt with Max Snow before.

It was almost as if when George began to calm down, Max picked up everything his brother had left behind and swallowed it. He was hyper, active and liked to keep Jon and Sansa both on their toes. But, he was also a five-year-old boy and like his siblings, he was headstrong with his own opinions of what he wanted and what he liked and disliked in his life.

“All set for you, Max,” Alec smiled once he had brushed the chair clean.

Jon swooped the boy up and set him down, Alec snapping a new apron bib around him.

“Shave it, Alec!” Max exclaimed without waiting.

“No, Max, we’re not shaving it. Your mama doesn’t want it shaved.”

“Mama’s not here,” Max reminded him with a frown.

“But we’ll see her in a half hour and I’m not taking you home with a shaved head.”

“Shave it!” He said again, almost shouting it now.

Alec went to Max’s hair, touching some of his curls, pulling one out gently and holding it straight so he could see how long it was. He looked to Jon and Jon looked to his own reflection in the mirror. He had just gotten it cut – above his shoulders but below his ears – but he knew that Max didn’t want long hair anymore. He was five and changed his mind just about every other day so long hair was wanted last week but not this week and he wasn’t going to stop until he got his hair cut.

“My wife doesn’t want him with a shaved head. She loves his curls too much,” Jon explained to Alec.

“They’re my curls!” Max shouted.

“Shut up, Max!” George shouted from the front of the shop.

“Both of you, shut up,” Jon sighed heavily before he could stop himself. “What do you think?” He asked the barber.

“Shave, shave, shave!” Max began chanting as Alec studied the hair in front of him.

“Max, stop,” Jon said firmly and Max pouted but listened to him.

“Alright, what if I do this?” Alec then began explaining to Jon what he was thinking and Jon tried to think of what Sansa would think about it; if she would approve because yes, Max was right. They were his curls but everyone knew Sansa had final say in just about everything in their house. But it was also important to keep Max somewhat happy because that boy could scream like he was training his lungs for maximum strength.

Jon thought for a moment. WWSD? What would Sansa do? And then, going with his gut, he nodded.

“Let’s do it,” he agreed.

Halfway through Max’s haircut, Alec having given Max a piece of gum to distract him, Jon moved around, not wanting to get in the way but wanting to take a good picture for Sansa to see what they had decided (and hopefully, there was still time to fix it if Jon had completely messed up).

Less than a minute later of sending Sansa a picture, the “…” appeared on his screen and Jon admitted to holding his breath, awaiting his wife’s answer.

And when Jon saw Sansa’s reply – _😍😍😍😍 I LOVE IT!!!! You did such a good job! 😘_ – he exhaled heavily.

“Oh, thank God,” he breathed.

…

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/27464164@N07/50333649557/in/photostream/) Max's haircut

George Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU for reading!! And yes, as always, I have missed this universe. Still beating that dead horse apparently.


	2. Strangers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to change the title of this one lol I love that song but it isn't a good title. 
> 
> "Things We Said Today" is from _A Hard Day's Night_ album, written by Paul McCartney. It's in my top 10 favorite Beatles songs.

…

All day, Eleanor had been receiving compliments on her outfit – from teachers, other girls in her class; even the lunch lady commented how much she loved it. And with each kind word, Eleanor just absolutely beamed and thanked the person very much. She felt pretty and confident and most importantly, she felt _popular_.

Mom had made her entire outfit (except for her black ballet flats, obviously). She was buying more fabrics and sewing more than she had since they moved here from Wintertown to Greywater. Eleanor had wondered if mom had quit designing and sewing but she hadn’t asked because if mom had decided something, Eleanor hadn’t wanted to pry. But this past weekend, mom had asked Eleanor if she could update her measurements and Eleanor eagerly stood as mom moved around her with her tape measure.

A few days after that, mom asked Eleanor to come into the office off the living room that had the family computer and mom’s drafting table, sewing machine and dress forms. There was different fabrics on the table and papers of sketches on the table.

“Do you like these?” Mom asked her. She picked up a fabric of yellow corduroy and then another of white and blue stripe. “This would be the skirt,” she held the corduroy against Eleanor’s legs. “And this would be the shirt.” She held the stripes to her arm, seeing how they looked together on her body. “Do you like it?”

Eleanor smiled instantly and nodded her head rapidly. “I love it!”

Mom smiled, looking relieved from her answer. Maybe mom knew, too, that it had been a long time since she had designed. “I should have it ready in a couple of days. I know picture day is Friday. Would you like to wear this for picture day?”

“Can I?” Eleanor asked excitedly.

Mom kept smiling. “I promise I’ll finish it in plenty of time.”

Eleanor admitted that every day she came home from school, she would drop her bookbag and kick off her shoes and run right into the office. Most times, mom wasn’t in there. She was in the kitchen, starting dinner preparations or she would be somewhere else in the house but Eleanor would look at the clothes on the dress form to see how far it had come.

She couldn’t wait. She loved her mom’s designs and her mom made the best clothes. Mom used to sew a lot more. Even with so many kids, mom somehow managed to make them at least one new outfit every couple of months for each of them. Eleanor had been scared that moving to Greywater had put an end to that all but she was so happy she was wrong.

Thursday, after school, Eleanor was at the desk in hers and Julia’s bedroom. It was supposed to be shared but Julia never used it and both girls knew that it was really Eleanor’s. She was working on her writing composition homework. The teacher chose a different topic every week and this week, the students were to write a single page about their favorite song. Eleanor was writing hers about “Eleanor Rigby” – of course.

Eleanor was the sort who as soon as she got home from school, she began her homework. That way, she would get it finished by dinnertime and not have to worry about it. George was the opposite. After dinner, dad or mom or sometimes both had to remind him about his homework. On the bus ride home, Eleanor had asked George what he was going to write about for his composition because she knew he wouldn’t even think about it until after he was done eating dinner and even then, he would try to finagle their parents for at least one television show episode before starting. 

“A George song,” he answered with a shrug and she knew that George could write that without any issue.

She wasn’t going to pester him about that. She was his sister and they already had a mom and she didn’t want to be the nagging sister who always annoyed him for not doing his work.

Eleanor was almost done when a quiet knock came upon the open bedroom door. She instantly turned her head and when she saw that it was mom, holding clothes over her arm, her smile was instant.

“Would you like to try them on?” Mom asked, stepping into the room.

“Definitely!” Eleanor dropped her pencil and practically flew from the chair.

And when she changed from her clothes and slipped on the yellow corduroy skirt with a side zipper and decorative front black button, she was already smiling. She then gently pulled on the blue and white striped long-sleeve shirt and instantly went to her closet door where there was a full-length mirror hanging over the door.

“Eleanor?” Mom knocked on the closed door.

“Yes!” Eleanor called out, unable to look away from her reflection, and when mom came into the room and saw her, she smiled. “It fits perfect and I love how it fits,” she then let mom know because she knew that mom would ask that. She held her tomato cushion with pins it to make adjustments but it wasn’t needed.

Mom came anyway to check for it herself. “Let’s tuck the shirt into the skirt. That’s how I envisioned it.”

Eleanor nodded and tucked the shirt into the skirt and then began turning from side to side, never taking her head away from the mirror. She couldn’t stop smiling and seeing her reaction over the clothes, mom couldn’t seem to stop smiling, too.

…

Eleanor loved her dad. She loved him so, so much and she knew that he would do absolutely anything for her if she needed it but it was just different with her mom. She truly felt like her mom was one of her best friends. (She liked to think she was one of her mom’s best friends, too.) She just felt like her mom _got_ her.

Picture day was a success. Mom had styled Eleanor’s hair in a loose braid pulled over her shoulder and had tied a blue ribbon around her head that matched the blue stripes in her shirt and the whole day, Eleanor received the compliments. Even the photographer had said she looked like she was ready for picture day. It was the best day she had had since her family moved to Greywater and it was all because of her mom making her these clothes. She hoped this meant that her mom would be sewing more often.

“I have to go to the library,” mom told her once everyone was home again and her other siblings were unwinding from a day at school and the weekend now ahead of them.

Dad was home, too, because it was Friday and though every day, he was working long hours at the big hospital Snow Construction had won, Friday were usually an early-quitting day for everyone in the contracting world, as dad said, and they were just ordering pizza for dinner.

Eleanor absolutely loved the library. She loved reading and learning and when they first moved here, she had felt like she was the only girl in this whole town who enjoyed those things. But her mom took her to the library and there were all sorts of activities Eleanor could sign up for and there, she was able to meet two other girls in her grade who Eleanor felt were just like her. Penny and Agatha were in the other fifth grade class but they all had the same lunch period and the three girls – plus George and his friends – all ate together and shared their recess together (plus Molly who’s special ed class had the same recess, too).

Eleanor met Penny and Agatha during a special library scavenger hunt when they were put on the same team and the three girls had won the day, coming in first far ahead of the other teams.

The library was probably Eleanor’s favorite place – besides being home with her family. She loved the smell of books and searching the shelves for the next perfect book for her to read.

“Shit,” dad swore softly to himself because he thought if he did it softly in front of them, the kids wouldn’t hear when he did it. “I forgot that I need to go pick up my sinus pills. Can I tag along?” He asked mom.

Mom looked back to Brandon, who was chowing down on a slice of pizza.

“If I watch them, can I stay out until eleven tomorrow night?” Brandon asked.

Mom and dad looked at one another and did that thing all of the kids were used to; they talking without ever saying an actual word.

“Fine,” dad was the one to say. “But if you need to be bailed out of jail, you’re not calling here.”

“Deal,” Brandon grinned.

“Can I wear this?” Eleanor asked mom, looking down to her outfit.

“Of course, Eleanor,” mom just smiled.

They ate their pizza dinner and mom made sure that George, Julia and Max understood that Brandon was going to be in charge and they would be gone for two hours at the most.

Dad drove mom’s SUV and Eleanor sat in the back, already wondering what kind of book she would get. He pulled to the curb in front of the library and he and mom leaned in, kissing one another.

“I’m going to run to the pharmacy before they close. Do you need anything?” He asked as Eleanor and mom both unbuckled their seat belts and slid from the car.

“Vitamin D.”

“Got it. You girls have fun,” dad smiled at them both. He waited until they were inside before driving away.

“Alright. I’m going this way,” mom said, pointing to one end of the library where the adult fiction books were.

Eleanor nodded. “And I’m going this way,” she smiled, pointing to the juvenile and young adult books that were on the opposite side of the library.

“And I will meet you there.” Mom leaned in and kissed Eleanor’s head and Eleanor gave her a smile before turning and heading to the far back wall where the new books were and looking over her shoulder, she saw her mom walking away towards her own new books shelf.

Eleanor liked to take her time. She read over each spine closely, taking down the ones that caught her remote interest and pulling it down, reading the summary, before returning it to the shelf. She liked to look over every book before making her decision. She only liked to take two books out at a time to ensure herself plenty of time to read both while still being able to do all of her schoolwork.

She had worked her way down and was now at the next section of shelves when she saw someone from the corner of her eye come to stand next to her at the shelves. Glancing over, she saw that it was a man who was now looking over the books as well. Eleanor guessed he was probably a dad, looking for a book for his child. He saw Eleanor glancing over and he smiled at her. Eleanor smiled back because she smiled at everyone. She then returned to looking through the books, torn between five and wanting to narrow it down.

The man was still at the shelves with her but Eleanor knew how long it could take, picking a book.

There was a stool for the top shelves for kids to use and she dragged it over.

“Got it?” The man suddenly spoke and helped her move the stool – though she didn’t really need help – and then as Eleanor stepped up, the man suddenly touched her on the sides, as if he was helping her get up.

Eleanor felt her body tense. She didn’t know this man and she didn’t like him touching her but she didn’t know what she was supposed to do. He had just been helping.

She managed to give him another smile. “Thank you,” she said politely because she was always polite.

The man still stood nearby, still looking at books on the shelves next to her, but he felt too close now. Eleanor faced forward, staring at the books in front of her but she actually couldn’t see any of the titles. She felt her heart beating rapidly and she felt scared now. She didn’t know why but she did. She wanted to jump down from the stool and go bolting across the library to be near mom again but she felt like she couldn’t move. If she moved, would this man touch her again?

Of course not, Eleanor, she frowned to herself. He was just being nice and thinking she needed help. There was no reason to be scared and there was no reason to run away.

But why didn’t that help? Why did she still feel so scared?

Where was mom? Was she coming back? Eleanor needed to go find her but she couldn’t seem to move.

“Eleanor.”

Dad!

Eleanor spun around so quickly, she almost lost her footing on the stool. She must have been looking at the books longer than she thought for dad to be there already. Dad was staring at the man still next to her and Eleanor’s heart was still beating but it was now from relief and excitement of dad being there. Without taking any of the books with her, just wanting to get away to her dad, Eleanor ran to him.

Dad put an arm around her shoulders and Eleanor put herself somewhat behind him. For a moment, he didn’t say anything. He was still staring at the man. But then, without a word, dad turned them both around and began walking away.

“Are you alright?” Dad asked her.

Eleanor knew that if she told him that that man had scared her, dad would handle it. But something told Eleanor that how dad would handle it, it wouldn’t help anything. She still felt her heart hammering and she looked up at dad, who was looking at her and waiting for her to answer his question.

She managed a smile and nod. “I’m alright. They didn’t really have any books I wanted this time.”

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been wanting to write a chapter like this for a long time but was always too nervous/scared. I finally just went for it. The next chapter will be from Jon's POV and this thoughts and the Snows will have a family meeting.


	3. How to Stay Safe

…

Jon had made a terrible mistake.

He had said his daughter’s name. Jon hadn’t known what was going on. He had gone to the pharmacy and was able to get what he and Sansa needed in no time at all before he returned to the library. He had went to find Eleanor first because getting her to leave the library could be quite a challenge. But when he had stepped into the youth section, he saw his daughter standing on a stool at the new book shelves and there had been a man standing next to her.

The instant Jon looked at the scene, he didn’t like it. It gave him a squeeze in his stomach and he felt his hand curl into a fist without even realizing it right away. This wasn’t right. Yes, adults were in the youth section but they usually had children somewhere around them. There wasn’t a reason for this man to be standing there _that_ close to his daughter. His _ten_ -year-old daughter.

And he then looked at Eleanor. She was facing away from him but Jon could see how tense her body was. Jon was not going to shove the man away but he certainly wanted to do nothing more than that. Instead, he had said his daughter’s name in front of that man. That man now knew his daughter’s name.

Jon did his best to hide it from Sansa but she was looking at him as they waited to check out the books she had picked for herself and then in the car but Jon wasn’t going to tell her. She obviously knew something was wrong. In the back seat, Eleanor was silent as well.

When Jon pulled into the driveway, he put the truck in park and then turned to look at Eleanor. “Can you let your brothers and sister know that we’re home so if they have anything on fire, they need to put it out?”

A slip of a smile passed over her face. “I can,” she gave a nod and pushed open the door.

Sansa remained in the front passenger seat and they both watched as Eleanor shut her door and then headed up the front flight of stairs to their front door, disappearing into the house. Sansa then immediately turned to him. She didn’t tell him to tell her. She just waited, watching him, and Jon exhaled a heavy breath.

“There was a man in the library,” Jon shook his head. “I didn’t like the look of him.”

“Where was he?” Sansa asked, her brow furrowed ever so slightly because she didn’t fully understand.

“Standing right next to Eleanor.”

Jon didn’t elaborate and the words settled over the front cab of the truck. He watched his wife as her brain registered the words and he physically saw the color drain from her face. They had never had anything like this happen before. And maybe Jon had overreacted. He _hoped_ he had overreacted. Maybe the man had just been looking at the same books as Eleanor because he had a kid that age and wanted to get them a book. Maybe it had truly been as innocent as that.

But Eleanor’s stiff body and her silence since then led Jon to believe that it _hadn’t_ been as simple as that.

He didn’t know how to ask her that though. How could he possibly ask his daughter if that man had done something he shouldn’t have done or not? Did Eleanor even know what an adult man should or should not do? He and Sansa had never had this type of conversation with any of their kids. That had obviously been a mistake on their part. Whether they had ever experienced anything like this or not, they should have prepared their kids that something like this _could_ happen and this was how they dealt with it if it did.

Jon and Sansa’s kids had thankfully lived a safe and protective life thus far but they both knew how horrible the world could be and it wasn’t as if Jon wanted to scare their kids with that fact but it _was_ a fact that their kids should be aware of.

“Did he do something?” Sansa asked, having found her voice again. She sound scared and emotional but beneath that – and Jon thought that maybe he could be the only one who could hear it – she sounded angry.

Jon shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

The library was open – in public – and there had been others around. What could the man have done? It didn’t matter, Jon corrected himself. Whether he did something or not, whether Jon misread the situation, it didn’t matter because whatever had or had not happened, Eleanor had been stiff and so visually relieved when Jon said her name.

As if she had heard more than enough, Sansa hugged her books to her chest and stormed from the truck. Jon did not hesitate in following after her, barely remembering to click the locks behind him and hearing the beep of the truck’s alarm being set. Up the stairs and into the house, Jon followed his wife.

The television was on – an episode of _Snapped_ on the screen, which Jon and Sansa didn’t like the younger kids watching but they hardly noticed. Brandon was sitting on the couch and Eleanor sat with him, both watching the program. George was on the floor with Max, playing a game of _Guess Who?_ , and Julia was sitting on the floor as well, with Martha, reading to the dog out loud from her favorite book – “The National Geographic Animal Encyclopedia”, reading from the snakes chapter, naturally.

Jon looked to Sansa but despite having been storming, angrily, just a few seconds ago, that had seemed to melt completely away from her as she looked at all of the children, her eyes landing – and staying – on Eleanor. Now, it looked like she was doing her best to hide just how upset she truly was.

Jon knew Sansa worried about Eleanor. She obviously worried about all of her children but so many of her worries seemed to be directed towards their oldest daughter. (She still was scared that Brandon might have drops of Ramsay Bolton in him, waiting to make an appearance eventually, but it seemed like Sansa had stopped watching their son as closely as she had in the past.) But with Eleanor, she was just like Sansa. _Too_ much like Sansa. Eleanor was sweet and always so polite and always did what she was told by an adult. She always wanted to please everyone around her. 

Jon now saw how that could be the worst thing.

Christ, he still didn’t know how to be a parent. He thought they were supposed to teach their kids to be good people who respected adults but now, they also had to teach them that they had to be suspicious of everyone? How the fuck was _anyone_ able to be a parent?

“Eleanor?”

  
Sansa came around the couch and sat down next to Eleanor, turning towards her.

“Sweetheart, are you alright?”

“Why wouldn’t she be alright?” George, overhearing, asked and Brandon, thinking the same thing, lifted the remote to mute the television.

“Eleanor,” Sansa said again and the girl looked at her, not saying anything.

There was something in her tone that all of the children heard because Julia stopped reading, Brandon sat up, and even Max lifted his head from the game. They all looked to Sansa and Eleanor and Jon found himself almost holding his breath. His hands were shaking and he curled them into loose fists. He would go outside and smoke a cigarette after this. He desperately needed a cigarette – and maybe a call to Beric, his sponsor – but right now, his focus was going to be completely on Eleanor and nowhere else.

Jon heard – they _all_ heard – Eleanor suck in a breath then, shaky as if she was about to start crying.

“He touched me,” she whispered.

“Who touched you?” Brandon frowned deeply, sitting up straighter.

Jon heard the blood roar in his ears as the anger built up and rushed over his body and Sansa set the book aside, sitting completely next to Eleanor and putting her arms around her. Jon came around the couch to kneel down in front of Eleanor. She wasn’t crying but her eyes were wet and Jon wondered if he’d be able to recognize the man again if he saw him.

He had already killed one man for a redheaded Snow woman. He would easily do it again.

“Eleanor, where did he touch you?” Jon asked and was amazed he could get the words out without tasting bile in his mouth from them.

Sansa looked moments away from crying and her arms were tight around Eleanor but still, no tears fell from the girl’s eyes as she looked at Jon. He reached out and took one of her hands in his.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Eleanor,” he told her – in case that was what she needed to hear. “But I need you to tell me what happened and what he did.”

“What who did?” George demanded, now standing.

“There was a man in the library,” Sansa told them all. “Your dad didn’t like the look of him.”

“How come?” Julia asked. “What was wrong with him?”

Eleanor and Jon still looked at one another and Jon silently hoped that she would talk to him. Jon wasn’t an idiot. He knew she preferred Sansa. It had always been that way between himself, Eleanor and Sansa. He knew his daughter loved him more than anything and he knew that she knew that he loved her with everything inside of him but it was just the way of things. Eleanor felt closer to her mother and there wasn’t anything Jon could do to change that.

But right now, Eleanor was looking at her dad and Jon was going to assure her that he was going to take care of this because as Eleanor’s dad, that was exactly what he was supposed to do.

Eleanor took another deep breath. “He didn’t do anything. I don’t think he did. I was looking at the new books and he came to look, too. I had dragged a stool to stand on and he had helped me even though I really didn’t need it. And then he…” her eyes grew wetter and Jon squeezed her hand, doing his best to keep his cool – for the moment. He saw Sansa’s arms tighten around her and none of the other children made a single sound as Eleanor spoke. “And then, when I was stepping onto the stool, he helped me,” she whispered that last part and Jon and Sansa both shared a look.

Jon leaned in closer. “How did he help you?”

“I didn’t need his help,” Eleanor rushed out – as if _she_ had been the one to do something wrong – and she shook her head rapidly. “I didn’t ask for his help but he helped anyway. He put his hands on my sides.”

“ _Who_ was this guy?” Brandon demanded.

“You’re alright, sweetheart. You’re alright,” Jon told her and Eleanor nodded this time. Sansa hugged her tightly and Jon pushed himself forward, giving Eleanor a kiss on the forehead. He then stood up and looked to the four other children. “Can you sit on the couch for me?” He asked George, Julia and Max and now, something must have been in _his_ tone because none questioned him. They just did as he asked without a peep and once all five children, with Sansa, sat, they all looked at him, waiting for him to speak. “Alright,” he began even as he was still putting the words together in his head. “Alright.” He took a deep breath.

George had sat on the other side of Eleanor and with Sansa’s arms still around her, George had put his arm through Eleanor’s, showing protectiveness over his twin sister that way. Julia and Max looked a little frightened – not understanding the mood of the room – and Brandon looked downright furious.

“I don’t know what to say,” Jon then admitted to them all. “Eleanor, you did absolutely nothing wrong and everything you’re feeling right now, you are allowed to feel it. You can feel anything you want to feel right now because even if that man didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or do anything wrong, the thing is, that’s how he made you _feel_ and you need to trust that.”

Sansa nodded to him – both in agreement and encouragement. “Do you kids sometimes get a tingle on the back of your neck or you feel the hairs on your arms stand up?”

All of the kids nodded their heads, still being quiet, looking to their mom now.

“That’s an instinct and it’s something everyone has. It’s something inside of us that alerts us to something that might happen. Do you remember when we were at Long Lake last summer and we were going to take the pontoon boat out on the water for the day? And remember how Grandma Catelyn started insisting that no one take the boat out that day because she didn’t think it felt very safe?”

Again, all the kids nodded.

“What happened?” Sansa then asked.

“That summer storm came out of nowhere and two other boats on the lake that day wound up sinking,” Brandon was the one to answer.

“That was Grandma Catelyn’s instincts. She knew something was going to happen. She _felt_ it. Now, she might have been wrong but she felt so strongly about it, she didn’t ignore it.”

“So, Eleanor, when you were standing next to that man and you felt scared and uncomfortable, those were your instincts telling you to feel that way,” Jon took over again. “Your instincts might not always be right but you all need to learn that you need to listen to them.”

“Better safe than sorry, right, daddy?” Julia smiled, pleased that she could add something.

“That is absolutely right, Julia,” Jon agreed and her smile grew. “If that ever happens, to _any_ of you, leave. Don’t worry about hurting the adult’s feelings. If someone is near you, making you uncomfortable, you find the first police officer or teacher or someone else you know and tell them. There’s nothing wrong with letting someone know that you don’t feel safe. Do you understand?”

“What if we can’t get away?” Max asked, his voice small and unsure.

“Kick them in the balls,” George said.

Jon glanced to Sansa but she didn’t correct George for that answer. She seemed to completely agree with it. Jon almost smiled because he agreed, too, and he didn’t want to tell his kids to _not_ kick someone in the balls if they were trying to take them somewhere they didn’t want to go.

“Bite them!” Julia answered loudly.

“Scream?” Eleanor suggested, her body relaxing just a little and her eyes were no longer as wet as they were.

“Punch them!” Max said, now joining in with a smile this time.

“Act like you do in the grocery store when mom says no to ice cream so everyone starts looking,” Brandon said with the tiniest smile.

“Poke them in the eye!” Max exclaimed, now having fun.

“Spit on them,” Julia giggled.

“Kick them in the balls,” George said again and Eleanor looked at her brother, giving him a smile. George smiled back.

“Can we get little things of pepper spray to carry around with us, dad?” Brandon asked.

“That’s a disaster waiting to happen,” Sansa was the one to answer but did it with the smallest smile.

Jon smiled a little, too, and went to crouch down in front of Eleanor again. “Are you alright?” He asked her, his eyes staring into hers. He just had to make sure – no matter how many times she told him that she was.

Eleanor swallowed thickly and gave a single nod. Her eyes grew damp again. “I’m really glad you showed up when you did,” she answered him quietly.

“I will always show up,” Jon promised her and it might not have been the most realistic promise in the world but in that moment, it was the promise that had to be made.

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much to those still reading! Next chapter, Jon and Sansa have a double date with another couple.


	4. No John or Paul

…

Max entered the kitchen, humming to himself. Mama was there, standing at the large island counter in the middle, getting things ready for dinner. Brandon was at the table, doing his homework, and dad was sitting on the couch, working on his laptop. Outside, Max could hear George, Eleanor and Julia playing with Molly from next door. Her wheelchair wasn’t the best in the grass so they played out front in the driveway – mindful of the road and cars that might be passing too fast.

Coming around the island, Max saw that Martha was laying on the floor by mama’s feet. Not sleeping; just resting. The Sirius radio was playing softly on the counter so not to bother neither Brandon or dad and a John Lennon song was playing. The station had been playing John Lennon songs all day because it was his birthday. Right now, it was _“Watching the Wheels”_.

Mama smiled at him when she saw him and Max smiled back. He dragged the stool that was in the kitchen for him and Julia to use and he dragged it over to the other side of mama, mindful of Martha and her tail.

“Can I help?” He asked.

“I would love if you helped,” mama smiled and that made Max beam. “First, you know what to do.”

Max nodded and leaned over to the little sink that was in the counter and he washed his hands, scrubbing hard. When he finished, mama was handing him a paper towel and he made sure they were both dry.

“Do you want the meat or vegetables?” She asked him.

“Meat!”

Mama laughed lightly at that and went to the refrigerator, taking the plate of defrosted chicken breasts. She brought them to the counter. She already had the bowl of crispy fried onions and flour crushed and mixed together and another bowl with an egg.

“So, this is what you’re going to do for me. You’re going to take a chicken breast, dunk it into the egg and then coat it with the onions. Got it?”

“Got it!” Max nodded, pushing his shirt sleeves up to his elbows.

As he grabbed the first piece of cold chicken, mama got a couple baking sheets and lined them with tin foil. “And line them up here when they’re ready,” she added. She watched for a moment to see that he was doing it the right way before she picked up her knife again and began cutting the ends off the green beans again, tossing them into the steamer.

Max began humming again, this time, along with the song on the radio.

Mama smiled to herself and then began to sing along.

“I’m just sitting here,

Watching the wheels go round and round.

I really love to watch them roll.

No longer riding on the merry-go-round.”

“I just had to let it go!” Max exclaimed the next line and she laughed. Max laughed, too, because he loved when he could make mama laugh. He thought he was pretty funny and he liked that mama thought so.

The song ended and _“Think For Yourself”_ began to play.

“Why didn’t you name me John?” Max asked suddenly.

Mama just looked at him – as if she had been waiting for the question and wasn’t surprised at all – and she kept smiling. “Do you wish your name was John?”

Max thought that over for a moment as he continued dipping and coating the chicken before he shook his head. “Nope. There’s a John in my class already. I’m the only Max in our _whole_ school! But why did you name me Max? It’s not one of their good songs.”

Brandon burst out with a sharp laugh at that and mama’s smile widened so her eyes crinkled.

“How dare you!” Dad exclaimed. He closed the laptop and stood up from the couch. Max and Brandon were both laughing now and mama looked as if she was about to burst out with some laughter of her own. “" _Maxwell’s Silver Hammer"_ is one of their greatest songs and how can you not _love_ being named after it?”

Dad came to stand on the other side of the counter and swiped one of the green beans before mama could slap his hand away. Dad loved to eat raw vegetables. It was one of his favorite things and whenever they were driving back to Wintertown for a visit or to one of Brandon’s cross country meets, mama always had trail mix and dad always had raw vegetables. Eleanor was the only one to eat the radishes or snap peas or celery sticks that he offered when one of them asked for something to eat. Max thought it was disgusting.

“But why _that_ song? And why is George named after a Beatle but me and Brandon aren’t?” Max kept asking, wanting to know – for whatever reason. He had never asked because he loved his name. He really did. He was the only Max he had ever met.

“Well,” mama spoke first as dad grabbed another green bean. This time, she did slap his hand. “When we found out about George, we knew that we would name him after George Harrison. And honestly, we weren’t expecting you. We didn’t think we’d need another boy name but when we found out about you, you were the most wonderful surprise and we were so happy.”

“So we could have named you John or Paul but we wanted something fun to show how happy we were,” dad finished, walking around the island to get a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

Max thought on that for a moment. He decided that he liked his parents’ reason a lot. They named him after something stupid and silly that made them happy.

“And what about Brandon?” Max then asked.

“Brandon is a very, very, very, _very_ old Stark name,” mama answered first again. “And he’s also named after someone very important to me. Someone who helped me a long time ago when I needed it.”

Max looked at mama, waiting for her to say something more, but she didn’t. She finished cutting the green beans and plugged the steamer in before gathering all of the ends to throw away. Max looked to dad and then to Brandon, wondering if he knew about whoever this someone was.

“Mom and I send him a Christmas card every year,” Brandon said, reading his brother’s mind. “And he sends one to us, too.”

“His name’s Brandon?” Max looked back to dad and mom. “Who is he? Can we meet him?”

“Brandon might be too old for traveling,” mama said. “He lives all of the way in Dreadfort. Your dad, Brandon and I went there to see him a few years ago.”

“Does he like the Beatles?” Max asked, looking back to Brandon.

Brandon was smiling even as he had returned to his homework. “Brandon’s a Frank Sinatra guy.”

“Do you care that you’re not named after a Beatle or their songs?” Max wondered.

“No,” Brandon lifted his head again to look at Max. “I’ve always liked who I’m named after.”

Dad sipped his water and came next to Max. “And what about you? Do you like what you’re named after?”

Max didn’t need a moment to think that over. This time, he nodded his head instantly. “I love being Max. I’m glad you didn’t name me Jude.”

“No?” Mama asked, laughing a little.

“People always think of Jude when they hear The Beatles. I like that you picked a different song. And John or Paul would have been too easy, too,” Max decided.

Dad chuckled and gave him a kiss on the head. “Glad you approve.”

“Poor Ringo,” Brandon mused. “No one ever thinks of naming anything after him.”

Mama laughed again and glanced to the oven to see if it was preheated yet. “Tell you what. If we ever get another dog, a friend for Martha, we’ll name him Ringo.”

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so behind on comments and this weekend will be spent doing nothing except responding to them. 
> 
> I know I said this chapter was going to be a Jon/Sansa date night but today, October 9th, John Lennon would have been 80 years old and I wanted to write a little something for that. 
> 
> "Watching the Wheels" was a single written by John, released in 1981, after his death. 
> 
> THANK YOU so much for reading!! Date night will be the *next* chapter.


	5. Some Motherly Advice

…

Sansa hummed to herself as she walked to the front door, Martha trotting at her side. The doorbell had rung and Sansa wasn’t sure who it could be. Maybe Mary Wheaton from next door but she almost always called or texted if she was on her way over and the kids were already out – except for Julia and Max, who were both getting over sniffles and were currently in the family room, watching a marathon of _Top Chef_. Brandon had gone for a run, George was with Molly and a couple of his others friends from school, and Eleanor was out with her two friends, Penny and Agatha, Agatha’s mom having taken the girls to the mall.

Peeking through the peephole, she smiled a little, though a little confused. She unlocked the door and pulled it open before unclicking the storm door.

“Hi, Holly,” Sansa smiled at one of Brandon’s friends.

“Hi, Mrs. Snow,” the girl smiled in return. “I’m sorry to drop in like this but I was wondering if Brandon was here. We’re working on a team project together for English class and I was seeing if he wanted to get started on it.”

“Oh, you just missed him. I’m so sorry. He and Anna went for a run.”

Sansa looked at the fourteen-year-old girl in front of her and Sansa swore that she actually saw the girl deflate at the words.

Since moving to Greywater, it had taken him time, but Brandon had made a good, small group of friends for himself. Himself, Anna, Cedric, Lewys and Holly all ran cross country together, were all freshmen and had just about all of the same classes together. And if they weren’t running or in school, the five of them seemed to be hanging out in one form or another. Sansa loved them all and thought they were good kids for her son.

Nothing was official. Sansa knew that because even though Brandon was a teenage boy, he would still tell her when it _did_ become official because that was the relationship they had.

At the moment, they were flirting and hanging out but at the moment, Brandon and Anna weren’t dating. Not yet. Sansa liked Anna very much and thought she was smart, sweet and polite and clearly liked Brandon as he liked her. The high school’s winter dance was next month and Sansa fully anticipated Brandon to come to either her or Jon, asking them to help him get a suit so he could take Anna.

But looking at Holly right now, Sansa’s heart ached for the girl.

She hadn’t known and odds were, no one knew. Especially Brandon. Maybe Holly didn’t even know.

No… Holly knew because after deflating, she did her best to hide it as quick as she could. She looked to Sansa and gave her the best smile she could. “Alright. Well, when he gets back, could you tell him I stopped by? I should have texted him anyway.”

“I’ll tell him,” Sansa promised with a smile.

Sansa knew that Anna and Holly were best friends and had been that way since they were little girls and a girl’s friendship could be the most wonderful thing but also, it could be the cause of jealousy – whether they wanted to be jealous of the other or not.

Holly was still trying to keep her smile and she gave a nod. “Thank you, Mrs. Snow. I… I’m an idiot,” she then said, more to herself; said softly and Sansa probably wasn’t supposed to hear it but she _did_ hear it and even though she didn’t want to embarrass the girl, Sansa stepped out onto the front porch.

“You’re not, sweetheart. You’re not at all,” Sansa said.

Holly sniffled though her eyes looked dry. “I didn’t even mean for it to happen. I don’t know _when_ it happened.”

Sansa gave her a gentle smile. “Snow men tend to sneak up on you. They don’t even know it themselves but that’s what they do.”

“Is that what Mr. Snow did to you?”

Sansa’s smile grew. “He was my brother’s best friend and he was always around. I never saw him until one day, I did.”

That got a little smile out of Holly, too. She sniffled again. “I just feel so stupid. Anna’s my best friend and Brandon’s become such a good friend and they like each other and I’m not trying to mess anything up.”

“You’re not messing anything up. I promise. You’re just…” she thought of the perfect word. “Fourteen.” That got a laugh out of Holly and Sansa smiled. She reached out and gave the girl’s arm a gentle squeeze. “What about Cedric or Lewys, if you don’t mind me asking? They both seem to flirt with you quite a bit.”

“They’re fourteen. They’re idiots, too,” was Holly’s response to that and it was Sansa’s turn to laugh.

Back inside – with a firm promise that she would tell Brandon she stopped by for _school_ – Sansa went back into the house. Martha was sitting right inside, waiting for her, and Sansa smiled, petting the dog as she closed and locked the door again with her other hand.

Going down the hall into the big open room of the kitchen and family room, Julia and Max were still on the couch, watching _Top Chef_ , but now, Jon had joined them. He had been in the office – working; always working now, even on Saturdays – and either he was taking a break or finished for the day. (Sansa hoped he was finished for the day but she wouldn’t tell him that.) He sat on the couch with Max on one side and Julia on the other, his arms around both as the kids nestled into his sides.

It was so damn cute, Sansa smiled instantly at the sight.

She came around the couch and all three moved their eyes from the television to her and smiled. She smiled back at them and settled down on the other side of Julia. The girl turned from Jon to nestle into her mama’s side now and Sansa put both arms around the girl.

“I don’t understand,” Jon spoke and it seemed like it was something he and the kids had already been discussing. “If you know you’re going to be on _Top Chef_ , why wouldn’t you learn how to make at least a couple of desserts?”

“They think they’re too good for them,” Julia was the one to answer.

“They’re stupid!” Max added and both Jon and Sansa smiled. “You get to Restaurant Wars, you need a dessert course!”

Julia turned her head to look at Sansa. “You could be on _Top Chef_ , mama. You cook _and_ bake.”

Sansa smiled and kissed her on the head. “Thank you for thinking I could be, my love.”

She lifted her eyes and saw Jon looking at her.

“Is everything alright?” He asked. He had heard the doorbell ring and Sansa go out on the front porch.

Sansa gave her husband a soft smile and rested her head back against the cushion behind her. “I’m glad I’m not fourteen anymore,” was all she said to his question and he cracked into a grin at that.

“Me, too. You didn’t notice me until you were eighteen. If you were fourteen, we’d still have to wait four more years,” he commented.

Sansa felt her cheeks turn pink at that. Their first time in a relationship had been such a disaster and heart-breaking and it led to both of them going down paths neither had ever expected but neither wanted to think about _that_. When they thought about first getting together, they always thought about their first kiss, their first time making love, their first time saying those three words to one another.

She hadn’t wanted to tell Holly that even when she wasn’t fourteen anymore, things wouldn’t necessarily get any easier but it had the possibility of being so much better.

Looking at Jon, Sansa gave him a smile and he smiled back because it seemed like he was thinking the same thing she was right then.

“Daddy,” Max broke into their thoughts. “What kind of music do mummies like?”

Julia giggled, already knowing the punch line, and Jon smiled down at him.

“I don’t know. What kind of music do mummies like?”

“Wrap music!” Max exclaimed happily and Sansa found herself laughing at that and Jon grinned widely.

“How do you fix a cracked pumpkin?” Julia asked next, tilting her head up to Sansa.

“I don’t know. How do you fix a cracked pumpkin?”

“With a pumpkin patch!” Max blurted out before Julia could tell the punch line.

“Max,” Julia frowned at him and leaned over to whack him.

Jon and Sansa were quick to separate the kids, putting them on either side of them so Jon and Sansa were now next to each other.

“Well, maybe I’d be glad if we had a few less kids than we do,” Jon commented.

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't been having the best few days and this universe is always capable of making me feel a little happier. THANK YOU for reading!


	6. Stand By Me

…

“You don’t want to see me,” she sniffled, sounding moments away from bursting into tears.

“That is not true,” Jon frowned and did his best to keep from sighing. He looked to two of the guys in the trailer and he signaled for them to leave. He waited until they did before he spoke again. “Mom, it’s not like that and you know it. Sansa and I talked about it and with this being our first Thanksgiving in Greywater… we were kind of hoping for it just to be us and the kids.”

“But I want to see you and my grandkids,” she sniffled again.

Jon leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes and trying to remain strong. His mom had a point. He was her only child and these were her only grandkids and of course she would want to spend the holiday with them. But he and Sansa had discussed it and they came to the same decision. One of the reasons they moved down here, besides the great opportunities Jon and Snow Construction would have, was so he and Sansa could be on their own – finally – with their kids and just be the Snow family. Yes, they were both eternally grateful for everything both sets of their parents had done for them over the years but in many instances, Jon and Sansa both felt as if both sets of their parents were holding them back in certain ways.

They both knew the importance of the family and they weren’t talking about cutting off _all_ contact with their families – of course not – but for this one holiday, they wanted it to just be them – the Snow family – coming up with their own family traditions in their new home.

He wished his mom understood that. He had to believe that Lyanna _did_ understand it but she wasn’t thinking of that right now. Maybe in a day or two, she would think on it and realize it but that wasn’t happening right now. Right now, she was being emotional, and slightly ridiculous, and Jon was feeling a headache coming on.

Lyanna gave one last sharp sniffle and then took a deep breath. “Could Arthur and I come down the next weekend? It’s been a few months since we’ve seen you.”

“That sounds great, mom,” Jon answered honestly while hoping that he didn’t sound that relieved though that was exactly how he felt.

After they hung up, Jon remained sitting at his print table. All of the prints for the Greywater State Hospital were in front of him, a thick stack of nearly two-thousand pages, and each page had markings, things highlighted and his scribbled notes. This job wasn’t even 1/3 of the way done, it would probably be a year before they even reached that point, but already, this job would be the highlight of his career. After this hospital was up and running and Jon moved onto the next job, this one would still be his pride and joy; the best thing he ever did – career wise.

But fuck him, it wasn’t easy. He’d be a fool to expect a job this size to be anything resembling easy but it was really pushing him.

Every day started at seven and he was lucky to get home by six. Sansa had begun making dinner an hour later than they usually ate it and the kids had adjusted to the new schedule as well. It was important to Sansa, and Jon, too, that they did their best to always eat dinner every night as a family. But he had even begun working some Saturdays, too, and he absolutely _hated_ that but sometimes, it had to be done.

Sansa didn’t complain but some mornings on the weekends, when she woke up and saw him already getting dressed and smelled the coffee brewing downstairs, he would see the brief flash of disappointment in her eyes before she masked it again. She gave him a smile and go downstairs to fix them both breakfast so they could eat together before he had to leave.

He felt like that was all he was doing lately. Leaving and coming home only to sleep before leaving again.

He was missing the kids’ lives and his life with them. He _ached_ for Sansa and just being with her; the two of them spending time together, alone, after the kids were upstairs, asleep. He told himself that his family knew that it would be like this if he won this job and he liked to believe that they all understood but right now, looking at the blueprints in front of him, his body now ached for something different, terrifying him.

Jon quickly stood up from the table and left the construction trailer, popping a cigarette in his mouth. His hands were almost shaking as he lit it and he shook them out as he took his first drag. He turned and looked up at the hospital, the sounds of construction work a cacophony of noise rising from inside.

He and his guys would start on the fourth floor next week. The prison floor. Before Greywater State Hospital shut down the first time, the fourth floor had been a maximum prison for the criminally insane and it was decided by the city, the doctors and donors behind the Hospital’s reopening that the fourth floor would once again be that; regular jails and prisons not equipped for those with mental disorders.

Working on a prison was different than other jobs. The electrical work had to be tiptop; without flaw. They had special fixtures that had no screws and couldn’t be opened for prisoners to stow contraband in. Not to mention the electrical that locked and opened all of the cells and rooms. The plumbing had to be perfect, too, since prisoners often liked to flood their cells in protest of one thing or another. Prison toilets could only be flushed twice in an hour before the water shut off. Sink faucets could only be run for thirty seconds every five minutes. If something went wrong with the construction of the prison, that could be bad for everyone.

Jon concentrated on his cigarette, his hands still with the slightest tremor.

He could call Beric but he didn’t want to. His sponsor was a high school geography teacher and Jon couldn’t call him right now and pull him out of his job like that. He could always call Osha, his sponsor back in Wintertown, he knew, but again, he felt like Osha had her own people to worry about and it wasn’t as if he didn’t have a sponsor. He did. And Beric was awesome. Jon really liked him and Beric had never been someone’s sponsor before but Jon thought that he was already a good one.

Normally, it wouldn’t matter that Beric was at work during the day because so was Jon and he never had a craving like this while he was busy with work. But today, the sheer size of this job and the stack of blueprints – and to an extent, his mom – was all building up and as soon as Jon finished one cigarette, he lit another.

He looked to his watch. It wasn’t even eleven yet. He could go home for a little bit; have lunch with Sansa – just the two of them before Max got home from kindergarten. Being with Sansa would help his hands and the craving that was beginning to burn through every vein in his body.

He had to go home and see his wife.

…

“Are you happy?” He always felt he had to ask her that at least once a week; just to make sure.

“Always,” Sansa would smile even though when they had first moved here, it had been hard on her – to put it lightly. But she had taken the time to get herself adjusted and take care of herself. She still had weekly zoom meetings with her therapist, Dr. Tarth, who was still back in Wintertown. Now, when Jon asked and she told him she was happy, he believed her. “Are you?” She would then always ask.

Jon would sigh before he could stop himself. Sometimes, that answer varied. He couldn’t lie. And he hated that that answer wouldn’t stay the same because he was the one who moved the entire family down here and made them change their entire life and he knew that he should be happy because living in Greywater was what his family had done for him.

But he couldn’t lie. Not to Sansa.

“I think I’m still working on it.”

…

Martha barked, happily announcing his arrival, as Jon came in through the front door and Sansa stepped out of the laundry room, smiling the instant she saw that it was him.

“Hi! What are you doing home?” She asked, coming down the hall to meet him in the front hall as Martha danced all around him.

She looked just as beautiful as when he had seen her when he left that house earlier that morning. Being a stay-at-home mom, somedays, Sansa fully embraced wearing nothing but sweats with no makeup. But somedays, she wanted to dress up and be girly and today, her feet were currently bare and she was wearing a dress of her own design.

He was prepared to give her some bullshit answer – of how he just needed a break or had forgotten something trivial, but that would be a lie. Without a word, he reached for her and his arms slid around her waist, hugging her tightly. Sansa smiled and brought her arms around his shoulders. When she tensed ever so slightly in his embrace, he knew that she smelled the cigarette smoke on his clothes and Sansa knew what Jon smoking meant. Her arms tightened around him and she didn’t say a word.

“Would you like something to eat?” She asked once their hug naturally broke apart.

“Please,” he gave a nod and he followed her down the hall to the openness of the back of their home. On the record player in the family room, _Revolver_ was spinning today and “Tomorrow Never Knows” was the current song playing. Jon felt that that was highly appropriate. “What have you been up to today?” He asked as he pulled a stool out from the island in the middle of the kitchen and sat down.

Sansa smiled as she began pulling out lunch meat and cheese from the refrigerator. “I was able to finish one of my sketches and Martha and I went for a nice long walk and I’m washing towels right now. I’m also trying to figure out what I want to do for Max’s class’s Thanksgiving snack. Who knew being a classroom mom would be _this_ much work?”

“Didn’t your mom try to warn you?” Jon asked with a smile.

“And don’t you dare tell her that she was right.”

His smile grew into a grin and she smiled, too.

“Have you already eaten?” He asked. “Will you eat lunch with me?”

Sansa didn’t answer him verbally but she turned and took another plate down from the cabinet and took two more slices of bread from the loaf.

He watched her making the sandwiches; toasting the bread, taking the sprouts from the container, smearing mustard onto one side of one of the slices of bread. There was something almost comforting and relaxing about it and Jon felt the burning in his veins and the slight tremors in his body fading away into nothing.

Jon exhaled a heavy breath – as if releasing all of the bullshit and pressure that had been building.

Sansa paused in the middle of cutting each sandwich diagonally. “Have you called Beric?” She asked quietly.

He looked at her and gave a head shake. “I came home to see you.”

She was quiet, thinking that over, and she placed one of the plates in front of him. “What do you need me to do?” She then asked.

Without a word, Jon pulled the stool next to him out from the island and gave her the smallest smile. Sansa smiled, too, and with her own plate, she came around to sit at his side.

…

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/27464164@N07/50696098603/in/dateposted/)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea if this universe is still a "thing" for some but I was missing it and today is a pretty important date in the Beatles world. John Lennon was shot and murdered in NYC 40 years ago today, 12/8/80. Thank you very much to everyone STILL reading/commenting.


	7. Staying Sober

…

“Is everything okay?”

Brandon stopped halfway up the basement stairs and turned to see that Anna had followed after, stopping herself on the second step from the bottom.

“Yeah.” He did his best to give her a smile. “I’m just going to head home.” He hoped she wouldn’t ask him why he would be leaving. He didn’t like telling lies but he also didn’t feel comfortable telling her the truth.

Anna looked confused for a moment. They had just gotten here about a half hour ago. The party had just started. And now, he was going to be leaving already?

“Do you want me to come with you?” She asked him.

His smile was a little more natural now and he shook his head. “No, you stay.”

She had been sitting on one of the couches with Holly and an upperclassman girl and she had been talking and laughing. There was no reason why she shouldn’t stay and keep having fun just because he was going to go. They weren’t official yet, but even if they were, she shouldn’t be expected to leave just because he was.

“I’d ask you to text me later…” Anna began to say and then trailed off with a laugh.

She knew that Brandon absolutely hated to text.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Brandon promised her, still with his small smile, and Anna smiled back.

Heading up the stairs, he ran into Lewys and Cedric, who were standing at the keg in the kitchen with a couple upperclassmen and of course, everyone wanted him to stay and tried to get him to do just that but they were also all on the more drunk side of things – already – so Brandon was able to escape the house without too much trouble. He bet they all forgot about him leaving so early as soon as he was out the door.

Cold weather had finally arrived and in Greywater, that meant he had to wear a hoodie at night; very different from the cold, _frigid_ weather of Wintertown that involved snow boots, goose-down coats, gloves, scarves and hats and even all of that sometimes still not being enough.

As he neared the end of the driveway, the music from the house was still pounding behind him. He inhaled sharply and exhaled deeply. He had no idea that there would be alcohol at this party. He didn’t know how some of the upperclassmen had gotten their hands on _such_ a wide selection of it since obviously, no one was of legal age, but as soon as he saw the keg, the glass bottles and the boxes of aluminum cans, Brandon knew that there was no way in Seven Hells that he would staying.

When Cedric’s mom dropped Cedric, Lewys, Brandon, Anna and Holly off at the house, they were excited. It wasn’t their first party with both the girls’ and boys’ cross-country teams but as freshmen, they loved being able to hang out with upperclassmen at high school parties.

But now, Brandon was more than ready to go home again.

He didn’t really care what anyone thought. They could make fun of him on Monday at school for being lame or for being a wuss but Brandon wouldn’t care then either. He was not going to drink and get drunk and not only because he was fourteen. He already knew it was something he was _never_ going to do. He had his reasons for not wanting to drink or get drunk and he thought they were pretty damn good reasons.

He took out his cell phone. When he had turned fourteen and went into high school, his parents had gifted him with dad’s old I-phone. It was a little beat up and not as sleek as the newest model but Brandon didn’t care about that. He didn’t even really use it that often but it was convenient to have – especially when he left a party he wasn’t expecting to leave for at least four more hours and he needed to get home.

His parents had left earlier that evening to go out to dinner – a date night for the two of them – and Ms. Wheaton, their next door neighbor, and her daughter, Molly, George’s best friend, had come to the Snow house to babysit the others.

Brandon didn’t know who to call. If they were still in Wintertown and this was the situation, he would call one of his grandpas. It wouldn’t have even needed to be thought about.

But they weren’t in Wintertown. They were home in Greywater and options here were a little fewer.

Toby, the upperclassman who was throwing the party tonight, lived too far away from the Snow house to walk. Toby lived in one of the wealthier subdivisions of town – up on one of the hills – and Brandon admitted that he watched too many crime shows with his dad because walking that far, alone and at night, did not sound like a very smart thing to do.

He sighed heavily. He hated that he had to do this but he didn’t know what else to do because staying here, at this party, was not an option.

He hit the contact and brought the phone to his ear. She picked up on the second ring.

“Brandon, is everything alright?” Mom answered, already sounding worried.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. What’s wrong?”

“Could you and dad come pick me up? I’m still at the party but there’s… there’s a ton of drinking going on and I just want to go home.”

She murmured something to his dad, Brandon assumed, before she spoke into the phone. “We will be right there, Brandon. Can you give me Toby’s address again?”

…

As promised, just six minutes later, Brandon was sitting on the curb outside when a familiar pickup truck came up the street, momentarily blinding him with the headlights.

He stood up, slipping his phone into his pocket, and with his hands in the front pouch of his sweatshirt, he headed towards the backdoor. Opening it, he was met with “Baby, It’s You” from the radio.

“Hey,” dad gave him a smile over his shoulder as Brandon pulled himself into the back seat.

“Thanks for getting me,” Brandon said, slamming his door and the truck interior going dark again.

“Of course,” mom answered. “Thank you for calling us.”

As dad drove down the street, heading back out of the subdivision, Brandon admitted to sitting a little tensely – just waiting for his parents to ask about the party and the alcohol. He didn’t know what he would say. Alcohol was there and he had asked to be picked up. Didn’t that say just about everything?

“Blow Away” from George Harrison began to play next and from the front seat, he heard mom start to hum. Neither parent was still saying anything and it honestly was only making Brandon nervous.

“How was dinner?” Brandon blurted out just to break the silence; still waiting for them to.

Mom laughed at the question. “How was dinner, Jon?”

“Your mom tricked me. She said this Asian restaurant was a place I would _love_. And any place that puts tofu in their vegetable rolls is not a place I will be going back to.”

“Right there with you,” Brandon agreed, almost shuddering.

Sometimes, Eleanor went through this phase where she wanted to be a vegetarian for a while and when she was “really serious” about it this time, mom loved encouraging her and she would try new possible recipes. Some of the vegetarian dishes were really liked by everyone and they were put into their normal dinner rotation but some of the others, the family never wanted to eat them ever again.

And in their family, mom and Eleanor were the only ones who liked tofu.

“Hey.” Mom turned in her seat then to look back at Brandon. “Want to go to Dairy Queen? Your dad and I decided not to get dessert at the restaurant but I could definitely go for some ice cream.”

Brandon could always go for Dairy Queen.

“Just the three of us? What about everyone else?” He asked.

He didn’t want to sound somewhat excited at the prospect – he was supposed to be too old to want to spend time with his parents; especially when there was a party he could be at – but there was a time when it had been just the three of them and sometimes, he really missed that.

“We’ll get a box of Dilly Bars to take back with us but right now, I could go for a blizzard. Just the three of us,” dad said and glanced to Brandon in the rearview mirror. “That sound alright?”

“Are we going to talk there?” Brandon had to know.

“Do you want to talk?” Mom was the one to ask.

  
Brandon paused to think that question over.

Did he want to talk?

Not really. Something happened, he made a decision and his parents weren’t stupid. They had been fourteen once. They knew it probably hadn’t of been easy but he had made that decision anyway – for obvious reasons. Or maybe it hadn’t been a hard decision to come by at all. It hadn’t felt like it. As soon as he saw the keg and those bottles and beer cans, he had known exactly what he was going to do.

“I could go for a Peanut Buster Parfait,” he decided.

“Finally. Some real food,” dad grinned at that and let out a laugh when mom smacked him in the arm.

Brandon smiled to himself and settling into his seat, his body relaxed for the first time all night.

…

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/27464164@N07/50720953327/in/dateposted/)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was another one of those ideas in my head for this universe and I have finally written it. Thank you very much for reading!


	8. Christmas

…

When Sansa was a young girl, she went shopping with her mom and they went to a department store so Catelyn could buy a Christmas present for Ned. They were decorated for the holiday and that was where Sansa fell in love with white Christmas trees. She didn’t know why she loved them. She just knew that they were so beautiful, looking like some sort of dessert with their colorful lights and glass ornaments.

She had these fantasies of what things she would have when she was an adult. An L-shaped couch, a bed with a white comforter and pink sheets, a record player and her records, a white Christmas tree.

Her first Christmas back with her family after Ramsay, with Brandon still growing inside of her, her parents surprised her with a white Christmas tree in the family room. She had stood, shocked and surprised. Her parents had never had a white Christmas tree before and Sansa knew that they had bought it especially for her and because she was home. Of course, she had begun to the cry at the sight of it.

When she and Jon were married, for whatever reason, Sansa just assumed that they would begin to get traditional green trees for Christmas for their family. The white tree from that first holiday home with her family again had been a gift to her and it had been Jon who had lugged it down from their attic crawlspace and began setting it up in their family room.

And every year after that.

Sansa and Jon wanted to have their own traditions for their family at the holidays and having a white Christmas tree became one of those.

Another was that Sansa took great care in baking a cake from scratch. Every family had a dessert that they had every holiday – without fail – and she and Jon both loved chocolate cake with buttercream frosting. For their first Christmas, it was one layer. And then, the twins were born and Sansa decided to add two more tiers – one for each child.

It now was a monstrous chocolate five-tier cake with eggnog flavored buttercream frosting – always with food coloring added to make the outside frosting a different color; the kids picking a different color every year.

  
For Christmas Eve, they had eggplant lasagna and garlic bread and for Christmas Day, they had roasted chicken, fingerling potatoes and carrots.

Jon and Sansa also made the conscious effort to _not_ go overboard when it came to buying presents for the kids. The rule they had seemed to set for themselves made it less stressful. Yes, they loved seeing their kids’ faces on Christmas morning as they opened that gift of something they had really wanted but they also loved just Christmas, the _day_ , with the family together with their traditions and just being together.

They made sure that grandparents and aunts and uncles knew that, too.

With Jon’s pay bump for this Christmas, it would have been so easy for Jon and Sansa to buy all five children dozens of presents but again, Jon and Sansa made a list for each of their children of the few things they would be getting that year for Christmas.

Brandon would get a new pair of running shoes and his own record player that he had asked for over and over again. Sansa had also combed the used record stores to start her son’s own record collection with just the right ones. The Beatles, of course. She had found an excellent used copy of _Abbey Road_ that she could not wait to give him. She also got him a Bob Dylan album and yes, she had found a Mötley Crüe used copy of their _Dr. Feelgood_ album. She wasn’t necessarily excited about that one but growing up was all about figuring out what one liked and his friends liked this kind of music so she knew Brandon was giving it a shot, too.

George had been begging and pleading for an electric scooter and he was getting some Lego sets, too. Eleanor was getting her own laptop. It was something Jon and Sansa had discussed at length. Jon watched too many true crime programs that let him know what could happen with kids and computers if they weren’t supervised but Eleanor was smart and trustworthy and she had been asking for this for schoolwork and reading things that couldn’t always be found in the library.

Max was getting a stuffed Rudolph that walked – Sansa was already imagining how Martha would feel about that – and a massive train set that Jon was already imaging he would step on more than once.

As for Julia… Well, as for Julia…

…

Julia knew something was happening.

They had all woken up bright and early because it was Christmas morning and they all raced down the stairs, wanting to be the first to see the presents under the tree. Grandpa Arthur and Grandma Lyanna were staying with them – sleeping on the pullout sofa in the mama’s sewing room and daddy’s office off the family room – and they got up and came out when they heard all of them in the family room at the tree. They didn’t seem upset that they had been woken up so early. They were smiling through their yawns.

(Grandpa Ned and Grandma Catelyn were coming in a couple of days because Grandpa Ned was Warden of the North and was always super busy around this time of the year.)

Brandon turned on the tree so it lit up brilliantly in the room, now grey with dawn, and George was the one to remember to let Martha out in the backyard.

“Swamp’s coming!” He exclaimed as he looked out. There was still enough grass for Martha to race down the steps and do her business before it was all covered in the rising water, creeping closer.

Arthur appeared next to him to at the sliding back door. “No snow and getting flooded in. How do you ever get used to this?” He asked with a smile.

George grinned up at him. “It’s home, Grandpa. We have to be used to it.”

“Daddy! Mama! Santa came!” Max exclaimed as Sansa and Jon both came down the stairs and he held out the empty plate with just a few cookie crumbs left on it that the kids had left out on the coffee table.

“I see, Max,” Sansa smiled and took the plate from him. “He must have really loved those peanut butter blossoms. Brandon! Not yet!” She stopped their oldest, who was already on his hands and knees, looking at the wrapped packages under the tree.

"Mom, your present this year is HUGE,” Brandon noted. 

Julia had been looking, too, and she didn’t mean to, but she began to frown. She didn’t see her name. Her name wasn’t on _any_ of these presents.

Was she not getting anything? She had been a good girl this year and when they went to see Santa at the Greywater Mall, he had taken her list and promised that he would see to it. Why wasn’t she getting anything? She knew she probably wasn’t going to get the snake she wanted so badly but she had given Santa other ideas of what he could get her. Yes, she really, _really_ wanted the snake but she already knew she wouldn’t get it. That didn’t mean she didn’t have to get anything, did it?

“Sweetheart,” mama came and knelt down next to her. She was smiling and she tucked a dark curl behind Julia’s ear. “What’s the matter?”

Julia sniffled and shook her head. Good girls didn’t cry on Christmas morning. “I’m not getting anything!” She then exclaimed before she could stop herself. “Santa forgot me!”

“Oh, Julia,” mama was smiling and Julia didn’t think this was something mama should smile about.

But then Julia looked and all of her brothers and Eleanor were smiling, too. Grandpa was grinning. Grandma had pulled out her phone and seemed to be recording.

Julia forgot her tears as she looked at all of them. Something was happening.

And then daddy came through the door that led to the garage and Martha – back from inside – was dancing around him as if this was for her. It was something big and looked somewhat heavy.

“Now, Julia is going to open her present first,” mama told them all as daddy came and set it on the floor in front of them both.

Julia stared at it and her stomach clenched with excitement. But she also felt a little nervous, too, which she didn’t completely understand. She looked to daddy, who was now kneeling across from her, and he was grinning and she looked to mama, still kneeling next to her, and she was smiling.

“Open it up, sweetheart,” mama said.

Julia began to tear at the Christmas tree wrapping paper and then she screamed. Actually screamed.

“Hamlet! It’s Hamlet!”

She dropped to her knees to look at the snake in the glass case. He was beautiful. So beautiful. A ringneck snake – black with a yellow underbelly and a yellow circle around its neck – was in the bedding, coiled, and she reached in, gently lifting the snake up. She held it so they were face-to-face and the snake looked right at her. Julia beamed and felt herself almost trembling with excitement.

“He’s so perfect. You’re so perfect, Hamlet!”

She lifted the snake so he was draped around her neck and she beamed at her family, who looked so happy for her. And happy for Hamlet, too, she bet.

“I told mama you wanted a rattlesnake,” Max said as her brothers and sister all crowded around her so they could get a closer look at the snake around her neck. Grandpa came close, too, so he could look at it. Grandma seemed happy to stay back, still recording it all on her phone. Martha had sniffed at Hamlet curiously before letting out a snort and going into the kitchen for her breakfast.

“My next one can be a rattlesnake,” Julia beamed with confidence.

Daddy laughed as he stood up and mama leaned in, kissing Julia’s head – while avoiding Hamlet – before she stood up, too.

“Sure, Julia,” mama said. “Your next one.”

…

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/27464164@N07/50737647378/in/dateposted/)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading this silly stupid chapter.


	9. Crash

…

“The trouble was that certain bears had gotten into the habit of eating not-so-healthy foods… when watching TV… at the movies… and at the mall. In fact, it began to seem to Mama Bear that anytime was snack time,” Sansa read out loud and turned the pages of the book, Julia on one side and Max on the other, leaning in close to make sure they saw the words and all of the illustrations. “At first she hadn’t paid much attention, but then one day when the cubs were raiding the pantry, Mama noticed something. The cubs were getting a little chubby. She took a closer look just to be sure. Yes, they were chubbier from the side… they were chubbier from the front… and from the back- Well, there was no question about it. Brother and Sister were going to have to stop eating all that junk food!” 

Max giggled at that, making Sansa smile, and from her other side, Julia leaned in to take a closer look at the illustrations on the page so she didn't miss one.

Sansa turned the page to continue reading but just as she opened her mouth to do so, she heard heavy steps on the front flight of stairs and then the front door flew open.

“Mommy!”

Sansa’s heart stopped immediately at that. Eleanor hadn’t called her that in years.

In a flash, she was up from the couch and racing to meet her daughter at the front door. Eleanor was panting and her cheeks were flushed and wet with tears.

“What happened?” Sansa was frantic and Eleanor grabbed her hand, pulling her outside. Martha barked and followed them down the stairs before racing past them, already seeing where they were going. She was aware of Max and Julia following after them and Sansa couldn’t even think to tell them to get back to the house and stay there.

Sansa’s heart pounded in her chest as she saw George sitting on the side of the road a couple of blocks away. The electric scooter he had gotten for Christmas was lying next to him.

“George,” she dropped down next to him and looked at him. His face was scratched – badly. His chin was bleeding and so was his left cheekbone. “What happened?”

George’s eyes were wet and he was gasping for breath as if it hurt for him to breathe.

“There’s a little pothole,” Eleanor answered for her twin, pointing back to the road. “Well, not little. Neither of us saw it and George hit it with his scooter.”

“What hurts, honey?”

“Everything,” he whispered and she knew that he was trying so hard to not cry.

She wanted to touch him but she was terrified of hurting him even further. Lightly, she put her hands on his face and as gently as she could, she looked over his scratches. She could see dirt and gravel embedded in them.

“It’s alright, Georgie. It’s alright,” she said as he hissed at the contact.

She kissed his head. Her heart was still pounding so hard in her chest, it was hurting. She didn’t bring her phone with her and she needed to call Jon. She didn’t want to move him. She didn’t even know if he could stand up right now.

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Molly coming closer in her wheelchair. The girl had been there the whole time but Sansa honestly hadn’t noticed; all of her attention completely on George.

“I can run and call an ambulance,” Eleanor offered.

Molly was rapidly shaking her head and she moved one of her hands, gesturing for Sansa.

“What is it, sweetheart?” Sansa asked as she and George both looked to the girl.

When Molly went out – to school or to play with George or to go anywhere – Molly’s mother, Mary, liked to give her daughter as much independence as she could safely give a ten-year-old with cerebral palsy. Instead of having Molly’s nurse, Adelaide, follow her everywhere, Mary made sure that Molly was wearing an alert button around her neck. With the push of a button, it contacted 911 with Molly’s location; a sensor inside of the button that led them knew where she was.

With them looking at it now, Molly pressed the button that was hanging around her neck.

Sansa wanted to tell Molly that she did not have to do that; that they didn’t need 911, but the truth was Sansa couldn’t think straight and George was obviously very hurt. He would have to go to the emergency room either way and this would be the easiest way to do that.

Sansa gave Molly a smile and then looked back to George. He was trying to move his leg but every time he did, he clenched his teeth together. “Shhhhh. Stay still, George,” she told him gently and she ran her hands as gently as she could down both of his legs. She didn’t think there was any broken bones but he had definitely hurt something badly. She looked back to Eleanor and Martha. “Take Julia and Max back home and stay there. I’m going to the hospital with George and I need you to take care of your brother and sister. When Brandon gets home, tell him what happened and you all stay there until you hear from us. Can you do that for me?” She asked.

Eleanor didn’t hesitate. “I can do that.”

Sansa hadn’t any doubt. She looked to her dog next. “You help her, Martha.”

With a swish of her tail, Martha came forward to lick Sansa’s chin and then gave George the gentlest nudge in his chest. But as soon as she did, George gasped as if all of the air just flew from him and was replaced with the most unbearable pain. Martha began to whine, able to feel it from him, and Sansa moved closer to him, wanting to hug and hold him but not wanting to cause him more pain. She couldn’t focus on anything other than George; her wild and happy son in so much visible pain and it made _her_ in pain.

The sound of rushing ambulance sirens coming up the street was one of the best things she had ever heard.

…

George was scared. Riding in an ambulance with the paramedic asking him all sorts of questions and then getting to the hospital, being on the bed that wheeled and having a doctor then asking him all sorts of questions as he shone a light in his eyes and started touching him all over to see where it hurt. When he got to his ribs, George gasped again and the doctor ordered x-rays.

“Mom,” he looked at her with wide, wet eyes. He didn’t care if he was ten and too old for it. He was scared and he didn’t want to let go of his mom’s hand.

“It’s okay, George,” Sansa promised as she held his hand tightly. “It’s okay. I am right here with you, okay?”

George nodded at that and he really did feel like crying now.

It had been such a little pothole. Sitting on the side of the road, George had looked at it through his pain and tears and it had been such a little thing that had caused him to fly from his scooter and do this to himself. His body was broken and he was scared and his scooter was probably broken, too, and he hated potholes!

After the x-rays and the doctor had cleaned George up and there was a tight bandage around his chest to help with his bruised ribs, he had been wheeled into a private room and Sansa still hadn’t left him; not even to call dad. She had asked a nurse to do it because her cell phone was still at their house and she didn’t want to leave George for even a second.

“You’ve aged me a hundred years, George Arthur,” Sansa said as she sat in a chair next to George’s bed, still holding his hand, and George – now that he knew he wasn’t dying and every bone in his body _wasn’t_ broken and he had been given something for the pain that worked _really_ good – was able to return to giving grins.

“Do you think I broke the scooter?” He asked.

He knew that mom wanted to say that she didn’t care about the scooter but instead, she squeezed his hand. “If it’s broken, we’ll figure out what we have to do to get it fixed.”

“Thanks, mom.”

“You want to ride your scooter again?”

“You and dad always tell us to get up again,” he reminded her and Sansa smiled at that, leaning in and kissing his head. George kept smiling.

They both turned their heads when the door pushed open and dad rushed in. He was out of breath and George worried that he was going to pass out right there.

“Oh, thank God,” dad said when he saw George in bed and mom next to him.

“Hi, dad,” George grinned as if he wasn’t in tears just a half hour ago.

Jon exhaled heavily and came to the bed, leaning down and kissing George on top of the head. He looked at the cuts and scrapes on George’s face – some already beginning to bruise – as well as the scrapes and cuts on his arms and hands.

Sansa stood up from the chair and Jon came around the bed, his hands finding her cheeks and their lips meeting in a brief – firm – kiss.

“Do you mind sitting with him for a moment?” Sansa asked him once their lips separated. “I have to go into the bathroom and throw up.” She said it with a smile; laughter in her eyes.

“Sounds good,” Jon smiled, too. “And when you’re done, I need to take my turn.”

Sansa leaned in and gave him another kiss.

“And when you’re done throwing up, can we get tacos for dinner?” George asked from the bed. And he just kept grinning as both of his parents gave him looks.

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter and didn't know *why* I wrote it. I wasn't even sure about posting it but in the end, I decided to even though I don't know how I feel about the end product. Thank you very much for reading!


	10. Missing You

…

The kids were upstairs, all in their beds and fast asleep, most of the lights were off, Martha was happily chewing on a new rawhide bone on the carpet of the family room, and Sansa smiled to herself as she stood at the counter in the kitchen. For Christmas, Jon had bought her the most ridiculous – and expensive – professional espresso, latte and cappuccino machine _with_ a milk frother. Sansa enjoyed coffee but her husband knew she truly loved French vanilla lattes and mocha cappuccinos and, of course, hot chocolate.

Sansa absolutely loved the gift and used it – at least – once a day. When she had opened it on Christmas morning, she had scolded him for spending so much money on her and it being far too extravagant. That didn’t mean that she didn’t want it or love it or wouldn’t use it and she had no intention of returning it.

With two steaming-hot mugs of hot chocolate – with frothed milk naturally – Sansa carried them into the office where Jon was sitting at the desk, staring at the computer monitor.

Every night, this was where he usually was – straight after dinner. He sometimes allowed himself to be pulled away to watch a movie or a random episode of some television show with her and the kids and he always did his best to still help Sansa with bedtime – though the children were old enough to not need nearly as much help as they used to – but for the most part, this was where his nights always ended. In the office, in front of the computer.

Sansa missed him terribly. She would never tell him that, she knew. This project he was working on, this career _defining_ project, was not only for him and his company but it was also for _them_ and their family. They both knew everything would change when Snow Construction won the Greywater State Hospital project. She knew all of that but even knowing all of that, she still missed him and she _always_ felt guilty for that.

“Here, love,” Sansa set the mug down in front of him.

Jon breathed heavily as soon as he saw it. “I love you.”

“Me or the hot chocolate?” An obvious joke, Sansa knew, but one that should be told anyway.

He turned his head to look up at her, giving her that beautiful grin of his that crinkled his eyes. Taking her hand, he then kissed her palm again and again and she almost laughed. She leaned down and kissed him on the head but as she turned to go into the family room and leave him to his work, Jon turned in the chair towards her. His hands slid over her hips, holding onto them, as he leaned in and pressed his face into her stomach. Sansa smiled and with her free hand, she ran it through his hair.

“I miss you,” he murmured into her shirt.

Sansa couldn’t stop the breath she exhaled at that. “I miss you, too.”

She didn’t know why she felt relieved. Did she think he didn’t miss her as much as she missed him? Secretly, she had been worried of that exact thing.

Jon stood up suddenly and his hands went to her cheeks, pressing a kiss to her lips. “Go to the couch and take your shorts off,” he said.

Sansa stood there for a moment and then let out a laugh. “I know we’ve been married for a few years now but there used to be _some_ romance between us.”

Jon went to the office door and locked it. He turned back towards her. “Couch, Sansa,” he told her and took her mug of hot chocolate to set it down next to his.

She laughed again. As if she was really going to put up a fight. Whatever he wanted to do on this couch, she was going to let him do it. Now was not the time to think about how this was their guest couch and whenever one of their family came to see them and visited, this was the couch they pulled out to sleep on.

Smiling, she plopped down and Jon kneeled in front of her. He pulled off her socks and then his hands went to the waistband of her pajama shorts.

“You are not wasting anytime,” she noted.

“No, I am not. Lift.”

Sansa lifted her hips and Jon pulled down her shorts and underwear at the same time.

“Holy shit,” she gasped and her eyes nearly rolled back into her head.  
  
He didn’t start slowly. He usually did. Jon usually had a very calculated process for when he went down on her. He had a method and Sansa had reaped the benefits of that method countless times.

  
But tonight, he obviously wasn’t going to think about it. He was just going to do whatever he felt like doing because he had missed her. Clearly. He had been missing her like Sansa had been missing him and she certainly wasn’t going to complain about it.

Sansa’s neck arched and her head pressed back into the couch cushion behind her as Jon began licking her folds, nuzzling her clit, sometimes slipping his tongue right into her tight channel. She tasted so sweet. She always did. He had never tasted anything sweeter and whenever he did this, he just always wanted more and more. He could be a selfish bastard and he took what he wanted.  
  
She began to lift her hips and push them against his face, the softest moans and gasps escaping from her parted lips. Her chest was beginning to hurt. Her heart was beating so quickly, it was almost painful but it felt so good. The best thing she had ever felt. _Always_.

Jon almost smiled when he felt her nails in his scalp; her heels in his back; her juices beginning to flow from her. Her thighs were pressed against his ears, crushing his head and he realized that he’ll need to breathe – eventually – but he was doing something a bit more important right now than filling his lungs with air.  
  
He was too busy filling his mouth with Sansa.  
  
She swore that she blacked out for a moment or two because when she came around and became aware once again, Jon was pressing kisses to her thighs and hips and her heart just about exploded through her ribcage. She tangled her fingers through his hair once more.

“You have missed me,” she then said as if she had come to a final decision and Jon snorted with a laugh. Sansa smiled so widely, she was almost laughing, and he pushed himself up on his knees so he could kiss her. “Or, you’ve missed _parts_ of me, at least.” This time, she did laugh and Jon smiled before kissing her again. Something then occurred to her. “What if the kids heard me?”

Jon grinned. “We’ll just tell them you saw a snake.” She smiled, too, and for a moment, he stared into her eyes. “I promise you that things will stop being so crazy. I’ll be able to delegate and I won’t have to be there as much,” Jon told her. “I promise. Within a few months, things will go back to normal, Sansa.”

She wanted to believe him. _Desperately_.

“In a few months, I’m going to remind you,” she said. She hoped she wouldn’t have to.

“Please do,” Jon kissed her again.

Sansa smiled and her eyes closed for a moment. She missed her husband but they could do this. They had been through so much already – together and apart; more than most people went through their entire lives. And if they could go through all of that and come out, successful and intact, on the other side, then certainly they could get through the craziness that came with this construction project.

They were Jon and Sansa Snow. What couldn’t they do and survive? They just needed to be together.

“Want to take this upstairs?” She suggested.

“God, yes,” he breathed. “My knees can’t handle this hardwood floor.”

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is no reason for this but here we are. Thank you for reading!


	11. Open House

…

The bedroom door was open so George had no issue with bursting in without knocking. Eleanor was sitting on her bed, leaning back against the pillows, with the laptop she got from Christmas open against her thighs. Mom and dad had put a bunch of locks and restrictions so Eleanor couldn’t go just anywhere on the internet but it seemed like she just liked going on Pinterest, different learning sites and reading assorted fanfiction. She also played online Scrabble with a person named “PepperJack” – and mom and dad made sure that playing Scrabble was _all_ they did.

(They didn’t say it but mom and dad – and all of them – still hadn’t forgotten about that man in the library.)

Eleanor lifted her head when she heard George and he hurried, throwing himself down on her bed.

“I need your help.” He wiggled so he could reach into the back pocket of his jeans, pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Eleanor.

She looked to her brother before taking it – slowly. She had been George’s twin long enough to know that if he was rushing in here and handing her a piece of paper, it wasn’t a good piece of paper.

And when she was what it was, she was right to think that it wasn’t good.

“George!” Eleanor admonished in the exact tone their mom used and it was terrifying, in George’s opinion.

“Please, Eleanor. _Please._ You’re so good at doing this and I wouldn’t ask unless I really needed this.”

Eleanor’s frown deepened as she set her laptop aside and sat up, reading the paper again. “I told you I didn’t want to do this anymore after we moved here,” she reminded him.

“This will be the last time. I promise. Please, Eleanor.”

She looked to her brother and he held his breath. He could see that she was thinking about it; _considering_ it.

“Close the door,” Eleanor sighed.

George burst into a grin and flew from the bed to the door, closing and locking it just as Julia came up the stairs. With another sigh, Eleanor got up from her bed and went to the desk that she and Julia shared though Eleanor was really the only one to use it. She sat down and picked a pencil from a cup and a piece of paper from the notepad. She did a few practice tries before she brought the letter from the teacher closer to her and picked up a pen this time.

They both heard the doorknob jiggle and then Julia began knocking “Let me in!” She shouted.

“Give us a second, Julia!” George shouted back.

Julia kept banging on the door though and George sat down on Julia’s bed, closest to the desk, leaning forward to watch Eleanor. Their dad had the worst handwriting. The worst. It honestly just looked like a scribble when he signed something but it needed to _look_ like it was something. George just couldn’t hand his teacher a piece of paper with scratch on it. It had to look like _parent_ scratch.

And that was where Eleanor came in. She didn’t like that she had a talent at this but the truth was, it was a true talent she had and in George’s opinion, a talent was a terrible thing to waste.

“George! Eleanor!” Julia was pounding louder. “It’s my room, too! Let me in!”

“Go away, Julia!” George shouted – which wasn’t the best thing to shout, he knew, but Eleanor had to concentrate. She only had one shot to do this.

“It’s my room!” Julia yelled louder and her fists were getting harder.

With a deep breath, Eleanor signed their dad’s signature on the line provided at the bottom of the paper and once it was done, she studied it a moment longer. She turned in her chair and held the paper out for George to take. “I’m not doing this for you again,” she let him know, the deep frown back on her face.

“I promise. I won’t ask you again,” George swore. He looked at the signature and exhaled a deep breath, breaking into a smile. “You’re the best, Eleanor. You really are.”

“LET ME IN! LET ME IN!” Julia was practically screaming now. It sounded like she was kicking the door now along with pounding it with her fists.

“What the Hell is going on?” They then heard dad’s voice coming up the stairs and George quickly blew on the signature to make sure the ink was dry before shoving the paper into his pocket as Eleanor hurried to unlock the bedroom door and yank it open.

Julia practically fell into the room and glared at both her brother and sister.

Dad stood there and frowned at all of them. He didn’t say anything but they knew he was expecting one of them to explain what was going on.

“Just a twin meeting, dad,” Eleanor was the one to speak up first.

“Hmph,” Julia frowned at that and went to Hamlet’s glass case against the wall to make sure that nothing had been done to her precious snake. Once she had decided that Hamlet was just fine, she lifted him up and gently put him around her neck so he was draped over her shoulders.

Jon was looking at George and Eleanor, trying to figure out what the truth was because he wasn’t an idiot and all three knew that it hadn’t actually been a twin meeting – whatever that was. But George and Eleanor’s faces gave nothing away and after another minute of searching, Jon knew he wouldn’t get it.

“I want you both to know that I don’t believe you,” dad said, “But dinner’s ready and I’m starving so I’m going to drop it. For now. Let’s go.”

…

The elementary school had an open house the next week and there were going to be food trucks parked in the parking lot which was the only reason Brandon allowed himself to be dragged along. The hallways were crowded with kids and their parents, not to mention all of the staff there, to welcome and talk with everyone. Max grabbed Sansa’s hand and tugged her to his kindergarten class first even though she was the classroom mom and was well aware of everything he wanted to show them.

“This is my shape monster! I got the oval!” Max exclaimed, making sure they all saw his construction-paper craft hanging on the wall. This time, he grabbed Jon’s hand and pulled him to one of the little tables where his school box and name tag was. He flipped open the lid of the box. “And these are my pencils and crayons!”

“I like your chair,” Jon commented as he pulled out the little chair from the table and sat down. “A very good chair,” he nodded and gave a grin as Max laughed. “What else?” He then asked.

The classroom had books and toys everywhere and the walls were all decorated with posters of learning numbers, colors and the alphabet.

“What’s this?” Eleanor asked, picking up a plastic phone from a shelf under the window where there was a whole box of them. 

“Show her, Max,” Sansa smiled and Max was eager to do so.

“Watch!” The boy proudly held up the phone and hit the buttons so they could all see. “911! And mama’s cell phone number!” He hit those buttons as well.

“What’s my cell phone number?” Jon asked.

Max shook his head. “I’ll call mama.”

Next was Julia’s first-grade classroom and much like Max, she showed them her little desk and the booklet of all of her worksheets that the students had put together especially for the open house that night. Both Jon and Sansa flipped through it as Julia went to show her brothers and sister the class pet, Sprinkles the rabbit.

“We’re framing this,” Jon said, stopping at a drawing that Julia had done of the family.

“Because of your hair?” Sansa guessed, almost laughing.

“Look at it!” He exclaimed. “She got my, hers and Max’s black curly texture _perfectly_!”

When they left the classroom, they began heading towards George and Eleanor’s classroom next. George and Eleanor exchanged looks – which Jon noticed but they didn’t know he did – and Jon then took Sansa’s hand, gently pulling her back so the kids walked in front of them.

“What is it?” Sansa asked, a little confused.

“They’re up to something.”

“You’ve been saying that for the past two days and you still haven’t figured it out.”

“That doesn’t mean that they’re _not_ up to something, Sansa,” Jon frowned, watching their twins as they led the way. George was now whispering something to Eleanor and she was shaking her head.

He – personally – didn’t know what it was like but when he and Sansa found out they were having twins, they had read a couple books about it; about the special bond that twins shared with one another. No matter what, George and Eleanor always had an ally in one another. Jon knew that they had their secrets but it should have been like that. He wanted his and Sansa’s kids to all be close and have good relationships with one another but with George and Eleanor, it could even be more than just simple secrets. Those two could have murdered someone and they would never break on the other.

Now, Jon didn’t think that his kids had murdered someone but they were definitely up to something.

“The worst thing we can ever do is underestimate them,” he let his wife know and it looked as if Sansa was doing her hardest to keep from smiling at him.

In the classroom, Sansa gasped when she saw the blackboard. “Eleanor!” She smiled happily. “Why didn’t you say anything?” At the end of the board, there was a special display – STUDENT OF THE WEEK – and Eleanor’s name had been printed and a picture taken of her had been taped beneath it.

Eleanor smiled, looking bashful. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

Jon kissed her on the head as they approached the blackboard for a closer look. “So what do you have to do to get student of the week?”

“I got an ‘A’ or a ‘+’ on all of the homework, quizzes and tests that we’ve had this week,” she explained, still looking a little embarrassed about it all. “It wasn’t that big of a deal. We’ve had a pretty easy week.”

Sansa put an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “Don’t try and downplay it. This is a big deal and we’re going to act like it is.” She kissed her head next and Eleanor smiled.

A collection of Eleanor’s work was hanging with a clip and Jon was flipping through it. Geography, math, writing, history – as she said, she had gotten the highest marks on everything. He kissed Eleanor’s head again, smiling proudly at her.

“Let’s see your desk, George,” Sansa smiled, having not forgotten him.

She always did her best to never forget that the twins may have been twins but they were two completely different people. Eleanor loved school; loved learning but George did not – to put it mildly. He would much rather be outside, playing – like most kids his age. Neither were right or wrong. It was who they were.

There was the student’s work on every desk and George walked them to his, his steps noticeably slow.

“This is my desk. It’s like every other desk. Can we go eat now?” George rushed out.

“I want to see some of your work, too, sweetie,” Sansa said, still smiling.

“It’s nothing-” George tried to say as both Jon and Sansa began to flip through everything.

With George, the ‘B’ and ‘C’ markings were typical but he had gotten an ‘A’ on his reading comprehension worksheet and Sansa smiled at that. She would never say it out loud but a high mark on that particular activity – for George – was quite surprising.

Jon wasn’t smiling though. He recalled the worksheets, quizzes and tests from Eleanor’s collection and he was the one to notice with this particular collection of George’s papers. He lifted his eyes and looked to his son, who was practically squirming, as if he already knew exactly what Jon was about to say.

“Where’s your geography test?” Jon asked.

…

[](https://www.flickr.com/photos/27464164@N07/50896740946/in/dateposted/) [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/27464164@N07/50896855887/in/photostream/)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who wants to read a chapter about the kids of our favorite couple? No one, but here we are lol Thank you for reading!


	12. Crime and Punishment

…

Jon couldn’t yell at the children right there in the classroom. And he couldn’t yell at them in the parking lot where the food trucks were set up but that didn’t mean he wasn’t thinking about what he was going to yell when they finally got home.

Telling the kids to wait for them in the hallway, Jon and Sansa spoke with the twins’ fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Hamill, and she showed them the failed geography test along with the letter she had sent home with George that Jon had apparently signed at the bottom.

“I take it you didn’t sign it?” Mrs. Hamill asked as Jon and Sansa both looked over George’s test.

“Definitely not.”

Jon was frowning and it only grew heavier as he stared at “his” signature. Eleanor was their good child. She always had been. She was a mini-Sansa, as both Jon and Sansa – and just about everyone – noted. Polite and kind and eager to do what she thought would please. But she had them fooled. She was a kid and Jon knew that kids shouldn’t be trusted too much. Look at what they did when they were trusted. They failed tests and lied to their parents and forged signatures.

“We’ll see to it that George and Eleanor are properly punished when we get them home,” Sansa said to the teacher. “And I’m so sorry about this.”

“George and Eleanor certainly aren’t my first students to do something like this,” Mrs. Hamill smiled.

Jon didn’t say anything as he borrowed a pen from the woman and leaning over her desk, signed the teacher’s note himself and… _holy shit._ It was terrifying how close Eleanor had gotten it to his.

Since they had visited all of the children’s classrooms, it was now time to go out to the parking lot where the food trucks were. But there weren’t just food trucks. There was a whole small carnival with games and face painting as well as a photo booth. Jon knew he had to feed George and Eleanor because he was lawfully responsible to but he was still imagining everything he would yell when they all got home.

George and Eleanor – wisely – were staying quiet and walking closer to Sansa than to him.

“Dad, can we get tacos?” Brandon asked, pointing to a taco food truck ahead.

“Yeah!” Julia exclaimed immediately in agreement.

Max grabbed Jon’s hand and tugged on it as he jumped at his side. “Tacos, daddy!” And if Max, their pickiest eater, was actually agreeing with something someone else in their family wanted to eat, Jon couldn’t very well say ‘no’ to tacos and make them eat somewhere else.

The truth was, Jon didn’t have a taste for anything because the anger was still there and he looked over to George and Eleanor – who were obviously doing their best to not meet his eyes. Eleanor stood on her toes to whisper in Sansa’s ear and Sansa bent down so she could do so easier.

Sansa nodded and then looked to her husband. “Could we get some fish tacos?” She asked.

Jon nodded and didn’t say anything as he pulled out his wallet. He stood in line as Brandon, Max and Julia all told him what they wanted – though Max and Julia didn’t really know what they wanted – and Jon wound up ordering the pork quesadillas for them because that was what they loved to get whenever they got Mexican.

Sansa stayed back with Eleanor and George and looking over his shoulder, Jon saw that she had led them over to an open picnic table. She was talking to them as they all sat down and she didn’t look angry enough in Jon’s opinion. Actually, she didn’t look angry at all.

Jon ordered enough food for everyone and he handed the tray to Brandon for him to carry it to their table and then Jon got the tray that had all of the trays, napkins and plasticware on it, making sure Julia and Max followed them as they left the food truck. Max ran ahead to make sure he got the seat next to Sansa and Jon chose a seat where he wasn’t next to the twins or across from them. It would be better for them all if they could eat their dinners without Jon staring at them and letting them feel his anger.

He felt Sansa occasionally looking at him but he didn’t meet his wife’s eye.

He wanted to be angry and he felt he had every right to be angry. George had failed a test because he hadn’t studied for and then had been devious enough to sneak the letter from his teacher home so his sister could forge their dad’s signature. He needed the twins to know that what they did was not alright – in any way.

Sansa would let him be angry, he knew, but he also knew that she would do her best to keep him calm.

When Brandon was still a little guy and Jon had adopted him, making them officially a family, even then, Jon hadn’t been comfortable with discipling the boy or even really raising his voice to him. He was Brandon’s father, yes, but there was that feeling he had in the back of his brain that he didn’t think he had a right to _be_ a father to him. When he finally confided to Sansa about it – because he hadn’t even yelled when Brandon had stolen his screwdriver from his toolbox, his very expensive screwdriver and tried to flush it down the toilet, making a big mess, and Sansa had been the one to yell – Sansa looked him right in the eye and told Jon that he was Brandon’s father and she really needed help because she had already been a single parent and they were partners in this now.

They came to an agreement and made a promise to one another. When one was angry at one of the kids – or two or however many they had – they backed each other up. In private, they didn’t have to agree but in front of the kids, they were always a united front because it was two against five and they were outnumbered.

“Daddy, can I get my face painted before we go home?” Julia asked.

“Of course you can,” Jon gave a nod before taking a sip of Dr. Pepper.

“Me, too?” Max’s eyes widened with excitement.

“What will you get?” Sansa asked him.

“A skeleton!” Max exclaimed.

They finished their dinners and tossed all of their trash onto the two trays.

“George. Eleanor. You two take our trays to the trash,” Sansa said and the twins nodded. They still hadn’t said a word as they ate and they didn’t say anything now as they both stood up, doing as they were told. When they walked away, Sansa then looked to Brandon. “Can you go stand with Julia and Max in line for the face painting? Your dad and I will be right there and you can stay a half hour past your usual curfew this weekend,” she said to their oldest.

Brandon nodded, also without argument, and crouching down, he let Max crawl onto his back for a piggyback ride and then he took Julia’s hand, leading them both away. Sansa then slid down the bench to sit across from Jon. He still had his can of Dr. Pepper and he took another sip, waiting for her to say something.

“When you and Robb were twelve, you came over so he could sign your report card for you.”

He almost choked as he swallowed and then began coughing. “How do you remember that? How do you even _know_ about that?”

Sansa just smiled and shrugged. “It’s true though, isn’t it?”

He stared at her, not wanting to say anything because it was something that had happened and honestly, he had forgotten all about it. “Seriously. How do you know about that?”

She was still smiling. “I was in Robb’s room because he hid one of my dolls in there and I was searching for it. You didn’t see me.”

“And you remember it all of these years later?”

“Good thing, too, so I can remind you of it when we’re in this particular situation.”

Jon smirked a little and took another sip of Dr. Pepper.

“You know I’m mad, too, but, they’re also kids and as we know, this is something kids try to do. I’ll stick with whatever punishment you want to give them,” she then said. She looked over Jon’s shoulder and gestured with her hand. A moment later, George and Eleanor returned. Eleanor sat next to Jon and George came around to sit next to Sansa.

“We’re sorry,” Eleanor spoke – the words falling from her mouth. “We’re so, so sorry.”

“And I’m sorry I roped Eleanor into it,” George said. “She didn’t want to but I convinced her to sign it.”

“It was her choice to go along with it,” Sansa said, giving both George and Eleanor a stern look. She then looked to Jon as did both George and Eleanor, all waiting for him to speak.

He sighed heavily. Sansa was right. Mrs. Hamill was right. George and Eleanor were far from the first kids to try something like this. _He_ had done something like this. He just didn’t like that his kids had tried it.

“When we get home, Eleanor, I’m taking your laptop and George, I’m taking your scooter. You’ll live without them for a week. And for the next week, no friends. You come home after school and you stay home.”

“Yes, dad,” they both said at the same time without argument.

“And if you do it again, it will be two weeks and on and on,” Sansa said. “Okay?”

“Okay,” they both said at the same time.

“And you’re going to come help me at the hospital,” Jon suddenly added and Sansa seemed surprised at that though she masked it from the kids. He almost shrugged at her. The idea had just come to him but it seemed like a good one.

“The hospital?” Again, both twins spoke at the same time but George almost seemed excited while Eleanor seemed slightly afraid. She truly believed in the stories of the hospital being horribly haunted.

“Yes, in the trailer. You can make copies, file for me, and count revisions.”

This time, George seemed to deflate while Eleanor looked relieved.

Jon knew that having two kids with him in the construction trailer, on a Saturday, doing menial office work sounded more like a punishment for himself but as he learned, he could use all the help he could get.

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Valentine's Day is coming and Brandon needs his mom's help in the next chapter. 
> 
> THANK YOU so, so much for reading!


	13. Valentine's Day

…

In the bottom drawer of the refrigerator, Sansa always made sure there were plenty of bottles of Gatorade in supply for Brandon when he came back from his runs and had something to down; to help his body recover from pushing itself in the Neck’s constant humidity.

Brandon leaned against the counter, feeling the sweat trickling down his back and neck as he gulped nearly half of the bottle of Gatorade in one go. George was sitting at the kitchen table, doing his homework, as he was to do every evening now before dinner, and Max was sitting across from him, humming, and swinging his legs back and forth as he wrote out Valentine’s Day cards for everyone in his class. The teacher had printed off a list of everyone in his class so everyone got cards. Each time Max wrote a card out to someone, he crossed that someone’s name off the list. Mom had bought him a box of _Hubba Bubba Hotel_ cards and just like Brandon used to do, Max was choosing each one carefully for everyone.

“You’re decorating your shoebox tomorrow?” Brandon asked him.

“Yep!” Max exclaimed excitedly. “Mama’s bought all sorts of stuff for the class and she made sure she had plenty of pom-poms!”

Brandon smiled. He got it. He remembered decorating shoeboxes for Valentine’s Day cards, too, and it had always been one of his favorite days in elementary school. He would _kill_ for the opportunity to decorate Valentine’s Day shoeboxes but he was fourteen and this made-up holiday suddenly meant stress and worry. He didn’t mean for it to be. It was just some stupid little holiday and he didn’t even have a girlfriend. He and Anna were… _something_. They weren’t dating but he guessed they were on the cusp of that.

How did fourteen-year-olds even date? It wasn’t like they could drive themselves anywhere and he didn’t have any extra pocket money to take her on dates.

But he knew how seriously girls took Valentine’s Day and he felt like he needed to do something for her.

His mom didn’t necessarily go insane for this upcoming day. She bought a variety of candy and put them in little giftbags for all of the kids and she always made sure that dad had a box of conversation hearts. Dad was the only person Brandon knew who actually liked those things.

Some years, dad and mom didn’t even go out on a date. They just hung around the house and dad would grill steaks. One year, he had gotten pretty ambitious and bought lobsters on sale, teaching himself how to cook them. The way mom explained it, she and dad loved each other every day and could celebrate that every day; that and apparently going out to a restaurant on this day could be a complete nightmare and it was nicer to just be at home.

Brandon didn’t know how Anna felt about Valentine’s Day. He hadn’t asked her but he just assumed she loved it. All week at the high school, there had been a carnation sale and it was obvious that it was a popularity contest but even if someone thought it was stupid, who wouldn’t want to get a carnation? Brandon had bought her a couple to be delivered tomorrow during class but he felt like he should maybe get her something more.

Taking another gulp of Gatorade, Brandon crossed the kitchen to the office off of the family room. The two doors were open and inside, mom was sitting at her drafting table, sketching, and Martha was underneath the table, snoring away.

Sansa lifted her head when Brandon stepped in. “Hi, sweetling. Did you have a good run?”

Brandon nodded, in the middle of another Gatorade gulp. “I was hoping you could help me with something.”

“Of course.” Sansa set her pencil down and sat up straight, giving him her full attention.

“Um…” he glanced over his shoulder, as if expecting to see one of his brothers or sisters standing there, waiting to eavesdrop. “Do you think you and me could go to the mall? Just you and me?” He was quick to add. “I, I want to get Anna something for Valentine’s Day but I need your help picking something out.”

Sansa looked at him for just a moment before a soft smile crept across her face. “We’ll go after dinner.”

“Thanks, mom,” Brandon smiled, feeling relieved though he hadn’t imagined her giving a different answer. His mom was pretty awesome in helping one of them when they needed it; whatever it was. He supposed that came with being a mom.

“Now please go take a shower,” she said, waving a hand in front of her nose, and Brandon’s smile grew into a grin and taking his Gatorade with him, he left the office just as Max rushed past him.

“I have an extra one, mama! This is for you!” The boy announced excitedly.

“Tons of love for you,” Sansa read out loud. “I love it, Max! And I love you so, so much!” She then began kissing him all over his face and peels of Max’s laughter followed Brandon as he headed up the stairs.

…

“So, what are you thinking?” Sansa asked as she and Brandon left their car and crossed the parking lot to Greywater Mall. It seemed a little crowded on a random weeknight but Sansa had a feeling that she and Brandon weren’t the only ones here, tonight, shopping for Valentine’s Day.

She couldn’t quite believe that she was here, helping her son buy a gift for a girl, but she was and she was _not_ going to start getting teary. He was still her baby Brandon but he was also fourteen-years-old and had a girl who was somewhat of his girlfriend though she knew that they weren’t official yet.

“I don’t know,” Brandon shook his head as they walked through the automatic sliding doors. “What do you think?” He looked to her. It was February but it was February in the Neck and he wore gym shorts and a hooded sweatshirt. His hands were currently in the sweatshirt’s front pouch.

“Let’s just walk around and see if anything catches your eye,” she suggested.

For Christmas, Aunt Arya had sent all the kids $25 Visa gift-cards because Arya felt she was so bad at buying presents and Brandon had already spent ten of it which left him with $15 to buy Anna a present. Was that enough to buy her something good enough? What was even considered good enough? Should he even buy her something since he had bought a couple of carnations for her already?

He sighed heavily and Sansa looked at him with an understanding smile.

“This is another reason why I’m not too crazy about the day. People put so much pressure on themselves and they shouldn’t have to. I know you probably don’t remember but after we got married, our first Valentine’s Day together, your dad wanted to buy me this massive bouquet of peonies flowers because he knows they’re some of my favorite flowers, but when he couldn’t find any anywhere, and even the websites were sold out, he just about had a meltdown.”

“Dad did?”

Sansa was right. Brandon didn’t remember that and yes, dad sometimes lost his cool over things but Brandon couldn’t imagine that not being able to find a flower would be one of those things.

She nodded. “That’s why your dad never brings me flowers on Valentine’s Day. It’s a strict rule between us. There’s no need for a meltdown over flowers. Your dad can buy me flowers any day of the year.”

Brandon stopped them at one store’s window and looked but decided it wasn’t worth it to go in. He sighed heavily again. “Maybe I should have called Holly. See if she had any ideas of what I could get Anna.”

Thank goodness he hadn’t done that, Sansa thought silently to herself. Getting a call from a boy you liked to talk about the girl that he liked? To a fourteen-year-old girl, nothing would be worse than that.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to think of something perfect for Anna on your own,” Sansa gave a smile. “Oh! Let’s go in here!”

Brandon saw what they had come upon and smiled, following mom into the cookie shop. Together, they looked at all of the assortment of cookies in the glass cases. They both agreed on the large M&M cookie to share and mom got them two cups of hot chocolate as well. They sat down on a bench outside, across from the cookie shop, and they both took sips of hot chocolate at the same time.

They then looked at one another.

“Water,” Sansa and Brandon said at the same time and Brandon grinned as Sansa laughed.

Setting the cups aside, they then began to share the cookie.

“I thought having a girlfriend would be fun,” Brandon blurted out. Sansa finished chewing her bit of cookie and swallowed. She still didn’t speak though. Instead, she took another sip of her watered hot chocolate and kept her eyes on Brandon. “I thought since I’m fourteen, I was supposed to have a girlfriend.”

“Who said that?” She asked, breaking off another bit of cookie.

Brandon tore off a much larger bit. He shrugged. “It’s just what everyone thinks. If you don’t date in high school, you’re a loser.”

“Everyone?”

“Everyone. Movies and TV shows-”

“-aren’t real,” Sansa finished for him. “Brandon, you don’t ever have to have a girlfriend if you don’t want one.”

“But what if Anna wants a boyfriend?” He looked to her. “I like Anna.”

“Enough to be her boyfriend?”

Brandon took a sip of hot chocolate, grimacing when he did because his mom had raised him to be a hot chocolate connoisseur and he had had much better cups than this.

“How do you know?”

“It’s different for everyone. I had a crush on your dad for a long time before he knew it and anytime he was around, I couldn’t even look at him. I was an idiot.” Sansa smiled at that and Brandon smiled a little, too.

He broke off another bit of cookie. “I don’t… we have a lot in common. I thought…”

“Your dad and me don’t have a lot in common. He actually listens to music other than the Beatles. He quotes Billy Joel to me, for goodness sake!” Brandon laughed at that and she smiled. “He likes things I don’t like and I like things that he tolerates for me. And you know what? It works.”

“What does he like that you don’t like?”

“Black coffee. Basketball. He loves cashews and I just do not. At all. _But_ when the Baratheon Brothers send us those mixed nuts for Christmas, it’s perfect because he eats the cashews and I eat the almonds. Um, what else? He loves reading _Sherlock Holmes_. I admit I tried to read it for him but I made it two pages in. Just not for me. I will spend an hour in the hardware store with him and he’ll spend an hour with me in the fabrics store and then after, we’ll both get pizza together because we both love pizza.”

She paused to take a sip of her hot chocolate and turned a bit more on the bench; to him.

“Sometimes, having things in common can just lead to an amazing friendship.”

Brandon thought on that for a moment. “What if she likes me and I realize I just don’t like her like that?”

“That, unfortunately, is something most of us will go through in our lifetime. It sucks but people survive it.”

He nodded at that and was quiet, thinking on that.

“You might hurt Anna’s feelings, Brandon, but if you pretend you feel a different way and make her believe that, eventually, when the truth comes out, you’ll hurt her so much more.”

Brandon nodded again. He knew he had a lot to think about.

When they finished their cookie and hot chocolates, they stood up and pitched their trash away.

“Would you like to keep walking to see if you see something?” Sansa asked.

Brandon looked around at the stores near them and then looked upwards towards the second level. He thought of the carnations he had already bought and which Anna would be getting tomorrow. He finally looked back to his mom.

“We can go home,” he decided.

Sansa gave him a gentle smile. “Home it is.”

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, THANK YOU to those still reading and liking this universe!


	14. A Little Water

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A reader messaged me on tumblr, asking more about the Snow house, hence the first part of this chapter.

…

Nearly every house in the Neck – except for the more expensive ones built on the hills – was built on stilts. The garages were built underneath and per construction ordinances and guidelines, every garage was equipped with floors that rose so if the swamp moved in and flooded the area, vehicles weren’t destroyed.

The Snow house was gray with white trim and there was a flight of stairs leading up to their front deck and front door. Some nights, Jon and Sansa would sit outside together in their Adirondack chairs, drinking hot chocolate despite the heat and listening to the cicadas, crickets, and bull frogs.

Inside the front door, to the left, there was an open space that Jon and Sansa hadn’t been too sure what to do with. It wasn’t nearly big enough for a living room. But houses in the Neck didn’t have basements so from their basement in Wintertown, they put the couch in the space along with the television so the kids would have a place to watch movies and play their video games if they had friends over as well as using it as a place for the kids to keep some of their toys. Sansa always wanted it to look as neat as possible though since it was the first room a person saw when coming into their house.

To the right of the front door, there was the hall closet, filled with the family’s rainboots and slickers. There was no need for their heavy winter coats and snow boots anymore. There was then a bathroom. Down the short hallway, to the left were the stairs leading up and directly across was the laundry room, which through there was the door leading into the garage.

It then opened to the back of the house – one (very) large room. To the left was the family room and to the right was the kitchen and eating area. Straight back were the two glass doors that led out to their back deck and off the kitchen, it’s door diagonal to the rest of the room, was the office, Sansa’s sewing room and the guest room when one of their family or friends came for a visit.

There was a short flight of stairs, a landing, and turning, another short flight of stairs to the second floor. The hallway was open with a short wall and it overlooked the front entrance down below. Jon and Sansa’s master bedroom was to the left, then Eleanor and Julia’s bedroom, the kids’ bathroom, and then George and Max’s bedroom. Another flight of stairs led up to Brandon’s bedroom on the third floor.

Jon loved their house – absolutely loved it – and he always felt such pride when family or friends came for a visit and he got to show it to them for the first time. It was so different from their house in Wintertown and he wondered if that was why he loved it like he did. Wintertown and further North was all he had ever known and he had thought he would never want to live anywhere else. And the Neck was still in the North but Jon had never been in a place like it before. He and his whole family was still adjusting to it after almost a year of living in Greywater but in everyway it was different than Wintertown, Jon found that he loved it.

He loved when he woke up and saw the water slowly moving in. It had now become a habit when every night after returning home from work, Jon would lift the garage floors, never knowing what the swamp would do. He loved how unpredictable it could be. Some months, the swamp didn’t come in at all and then the entire month of January, the swamp had moved in and stayed. It was just part of life in the Neck – to catch a ride on a motor boat to go to the grocery store or run other errands. The schools had pontoon boats they would shuttle kids back and forth on and it was the same with the city buses. Jon had bought his family a motor boat and he and Sansa studied and took the test to get their boat-driving license. Up on the hills where almost all of the stores and medical buildings were built, there were also parks and they would take Martha so the dog could run around on the grass and pee on things other than pee pads on the back deck.

When the Snow family had first made the decision to – and then had made the move – live in the Neck, more than one person had told them that it took a certain kind of person to make it here. All Northerners were tough but Northerners in the Neck were an entirely different kind of tough. And it came as no surprise to Jon when he saw his family getting used to it and having it become a part of their norm. The Snows were tough and Jon knew his family – eventually – could handle and survive anything thrown their way.

That didn’t mean that when the swamp finally left again and went back to where it came from that the entire family – and the entire population of the Neck, it seemed – didn’t run outside to enjoy the firm ground beneath their feet again.

…

“Where would you find the Isle of Faces?”

“In the middle of God’s Eye Lake!” Eleanor answered and slapped her hand on the table as if hitting an invisible buzzer.

Tormund turned the card over to check on the answer, seeing that she – again – was correct. He frowned. Another one he hadn’t known.

“I’ve never felt more damn stupid in my entire life,” the man grumbled and Eleanor laughed at that.

“How could you have gotten that wrong?” Jon asked from his desk. “You’ve been to God’s Eye Lake.”

Tormund grumbled something else at that under his breath – Jon was sure it was a curse word or two directed at him – and the man flipped to the next quiz card.

“What is the last river the Kingsroad crosses before it reaches the Wall?”

Again, Eleanor slapped the table just as the phone behind her began to ring. “The Last River!” She turned on her stool and reached for the phone before her dad could pick up. “Snow Construction,” she answered. “Hi, Jen! Thank you for calling me back!” She hopped off her stool and moved towards her dad’s desk. “I was calling to see if you could possibly expediate the F2 fixtures for the first floor.” Jon smiled as she gently pushed into him so she could reach over him for the file folder that contained all of the lighting fixture specs. “Those are the decorate sconces, yes. There should be almost 300 of them.”

“272,” Jon whispered to her.

“272, actually,” Eleanor said into the phone.

Jon turned in his own stool and looked to Tormund, who was also watching Eleanor, and both men grinned.

“I see that those have an ESD of 3/10 but could you see if they can ship this week? They go in the first floor hallways and we’re ready to start getting drywall up and those are the only fixtures we’re still waiting on. All of the other final decorative fixtures have gotten here already.”

The twins had finished their punishment for the failed test and forging Jon’s signature but Eleanor had found that she still liked coming to the construction site and helping her dad in the trailer if he needed her. And Jon had found that yes, he liked having her help very much.

He shouldn’t have been surprised that Eleanor would be good at this. She had a good, smart head on her shoulders and she had was able to problem solve and organize and help Jon keep his own head from being lost in the amount of paperwork a job this size generated.

“Oh, no,” Eleanor frowned at whatever Jen on the other end of the phone had told her. “Can you hold on for a moment?” She then pulled the phone back and held the receiver to her chest. “The fixtures are stuck on a truck at the terminal in The Twins because of the swamp,” Eleanor kept frowning as she told her dad.

Jon frowned, too, and he took the phone from Eleanor so he could speak to the lighting rep himself. “Jen, there are boats coming in and out of the Neck when the swamp comes in so things can be delivered.” He paused to listen to her answer and then looked to Eleanor. “Back up with the boats,” he told her and Eleanor’s frown only grew heavier. “Any idea at all when they might find their way on a boat? I had my drywall guy come down from Wintertown because I thought I was going to be needing him this week.”

“How far is The Twins from here? Could we take our boat there and meet the truck at the terminal?” Eleanor suggested but Jon shook his head.

“We couldn’t fit that many boxes on our boat and with that many, they’re on skids,” he answered.

Eleanor thought on that for a moment and then walked back to the large table in the middle of the trailer she and Tormund had been sitting at. The hospital’s prints and plans were spread out and she began looking over things, Tormund helping her when she turned pages.

“Dad, if you spoke with the architect, do you think you’d be able to use the decorative sconces from the second floor on the first instead? The second-floor sconces are already here but the drywall isn’t ready to be put up there yet so do you think it would matter if we just switched between the two floors?” Eleanor asked.

Jon stood up, bringing the phone with him, and going to look at the prints along with Eleanor and Tormund.

“How many of those are there?” Tormund asked.

“Should be around the same number,” Jon said, studying the prints, seeing what his daughter saw. “Jen, I’m going to call you back,” he said into the phone before hanging up. He was quiet for a moment, leaning over the prints, checking out everything Eleanor had suggested. The fixtures weren’t too different. One was a square; the other more rectangular. “Architect’s actually on site today. I’ll go speak with him. It would certainly make things a little easier until the water goes down.”

“A little water and the world shuts down,” Eleanor sighed with a shake of her head.

Jon grinned at that. “Want to come with me?” He asked, looking to Tormund. “You can explain the drywall to him because I’m sure he knows nothing about it.”

“Of course he doesn’t. Architects rarely know anything,” Tormund grinned and Eleanor giggled at that.

As Jon and Tormund left the trailer, Jon put a hand on Eleanor’s head for a job well done and both smiled at one another. Outside, both men put their hardhats on as they neared the Greywater State Hospital – built on higher ground so it wasn’t effected by the swamp water that had moved in.

“So, looks like I’m going to be working for her one day,” Tormund commented.

“Looks that way,” Jon said and he just kept smiling.

…

“You should have seen it!” Jon exclaimed to his wife as the two cleaned the kitchen from dinner that evening. He had already told Sansa the story before dinner and then he told everyone while eating dinner and now, he hadn’t stopped from telling it to Sansa again after dinner.

Sansa smiled because he was still as enthusiastic as the first time when he told her all about it.

“Obviously, our kids can be whatever they want to be when they grow up but I might gently start pushing her towards this. She’s so damn smart, Sansa! And I never thought about Snow Construction staying in the family once I got too old and retired but why shouldn’t it when I have her?”

Sansa kept smiling as she stored away the leftovers in the refrigerator. They both knew their daughter was smart. Eleanor loved reading and learning and seemed like she could never get enough of either. She could easily – probably – go to medical school or law school someday but being a contractor, owning their own business, took brains, too, and while it wasn’t exactly something women pursued, Sansa loved that Jon was seriously looking at Eleanor doing something like it.

“Well, you know what everyone says,” Sansa said, closing the refrigerator and looking to her husband with a smile. “Eleanor got everything from me – including the brains.”

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANK YOU so much as always! George Harrison's birthday is coming up - 2/25 - so I'm sure I'll have the next update on that day.


	15. Galileo

…

Molly had a cold and had to stay home – away from everyone – because her immune system was such crap so George couldn’t go next door to see her. He had other friends he could hang out with but the truth was he just didn’t want to. He was bored but he didn’t know what to do about it. Even if she couldn’t talk, he and Molly always had a blast together. In her wheelchair, they had developed a kind of street hockey together. George had gone with her to one of her physical therapy appointments and he heard that she needed to work more on her grip. What could be better for her grip than gripping a hockey stick? The kids on their block had all learned how to play their version and whenever he and Molly were out on their own, playing their own game, within a few minutes, they had at least four others joining in.

But George didn’t want to go out and start a game if Molly wasn’t going to be able to play.

He laid on his bed – the top bunk – and stared up at the ceiling. From the floor above, he could hear Brandon’s record player and right now, Bob Dylan was playing. Outside the windows, there was the tapping of rain beginning to hit against the glass and George sighed again. Even if he wanted to go outside and play, that was definitely out now. Mom had made a rule when they first came here. No playing in the rain and no diving in the swamp water when it came up.

Now there was really nothing to do. He didn’t want to watch a movie or play video games. But he also didn’t want to just lay here and stare at the ceiling.

With a sigh, he pulled himself up and took the ladder down to the floor, jumping the last rung so he landed with a soft _thud_ in his sock-clad feet. Leaving the room – careful to not step on any of Max’s trains that he had left scattered around – George headed for the stairs. Passing Eleanor and Julia’s bedroom, he glanced inside. Julia was there, sitting on her bed, and Hamlet, her small ringneck snake, was coiled on the foot of it. She was working on something with a piece of construction paper and scissors, her tongue poking out from between her lips.

“What are you doing?” He had to ask, putting his hands on the doorframe, and leaning into the room.

Julia didn’t look up. “Eleanor showed me this thing on Pinterest. I’m making Hamlet a stovepipe hat.”

“Why?”

That made her lift her head and she looked at him with a frown. “Why not? Hamlet needs a hat.”

George grinned at that and pushed himself off the frame, leaving Julia to her newest project for Hamlet. Last week, she had been collecting all of the paper towel and toilet paper cardboard tubes in hopes of making an obstacle course and training her snake to go through it.

Heading down the stairs, he could hear the rain begin to fall a little heavier and it made him sigh heavily.

In the front room, he poked his head in and saw that Max was there, playing on the floor with his castle playset that came complete with a bunch of plastic knights, horses, a catapult, and a large green dragon. He was completely engrossed in whatever storyline he was acting out today and wasn’t paying attention to _Frankenweenie_ that was on the TV.

Leaving Max to his toys, George headed down the hallway into the openness at the back of the house. He didn’t know what was for dinner but he could smell it cooking in the crockpot on the kitchen counter. Eleanor was lying on her stomach on the family room rug, writing in her diary. The television was on mute – turned to the weather channel – and it looked like dad was napping on the couch. Dad watched a lot of the weather channel and dad said that when he was older, George would care about the weather channel, too.

(George didn’t see that happening.)

He walked into the office where the doors were both open and mom was sitting on the floor, Martha lying behind her, snoring away, and they were both surrounded with fabrics.

Mom lifted her head and smiled when she saw him. “Hey, you.”

George smiled, too. “Hi.” He sat down across from her. “I’m bored.”

“Oh, no,” she said, still smiling, and George smiled a little, too. Back in Wintertown, whenever George had said those two words, either mom or dad would respond just like that. They liked to say that a bored George was always a dangerous George. “What would you like to do?” She then asked.

George shrugged, not knowing. That’s why he was bored. “What are you doing?” He looked to all of the fabric that she seemed to be sorting through.

Mom exhaled a breath and smiled. “I’ve decided to work on something. We’ll see if it leads to anything.”

He didn’t know what she meant but he was bored enough to help. He picked up the fabric closer to him – a mint green cotton fabric that had been bought for Julia because mint green was her favorite color and she always wanted things in mint green – and began to fold it.

Mom smiled as he did that but didn’t say anything as she folded her own fabric. Outside the rain was falling even harder now and the wind had picked up, blowing against the house, and whipping the water around. Her shirt sleeves were pushed up to her elbows and George couldn’t help but look at the various scars she had there. She had scars everywhere but George admitted to always being most curious about the ones on her wrists. He had seen movies and television shows and he knew what scars on the wrists usually meant but he could never imagine his mom doing anything like that.

“What are you going to work on?” George asked.

“There’s an event at the hospital that your dad and I are going to in a few weeks. I think I’m going to be designing and making my own dress for it,” mom smiled.

George frowned though. “But dad said the hospital won’t be done for _four_ years.”

Mom laughed. “This is just a cocktails and appetizers thing in the hospital’s lobby – which is done. It’s just to show everyone the new look of the place and for little tours to see some of the facility.”

“Sounds boring.”

She just smiled and shrugged. “It’s important.”

That had become such a repetitive motto said in their family since moving to Greywater. If it had to do with dad, it was important and George got it; at least, he got it after mom had explained it to all of them. Dad did absolutely everything for them – and George knew that he did – and moving here and living here was their way to thank dad for all of that and support him as dad did something for himself.

Bored with sorting through fabrics and folding them, George fell backwards, laying down and blinking up at the ceiling. “We have to pick a biography to read for class,” he said. “Eleanor picked Clara Barton.”

“She told me. Who did you pick?”

“Mrs. Hamill thought it’d be great if I read Grandpa Ned’s biography,” George made a face at that. “She said that as the longest running Warden of the North our country’s ever had, she said it’d be interesting to read a paper from the perspective of someone who really knows him.”

George kept making a face at that and mom let out a laugh.

“She also told me I couldn’t pick George Harrison.”

“I’m with Mrs. Hamill. That would be way too easy for you,” mom said. “So who are you going to pick?”

George shrugged and took a moment to keep looking up at the ceiling. Martha got up from her spot and came to him. He smiled, turning his head away as she ran her snout all over his face, before giving a snort and collapsing down in the spot next to him, on top of a pile of mom’s fabrics. She was back to snoring within a minute.

“Why not George Harrison?” He asked. “The guy is still one of the most important people in the history of the whole world!”

Mom laughed, leaning over, and pulling a fabric out from under Martha’s body. “I think we’re a little biased when it comes to the man.”

“Mom, he wrote _While My Guitar Gently Weeps_ AND _Here Comes the Sun_. We’re allowed to be biased. Do you think I would like him so much if you named me after someone else?” George then wondered.

Mom was quiet for a moment, thinking on that.

“Like if your dad and I named you Galileo, would you love Galileo?” She asked.

“Who doesn’t love Galileo?” Dad suddenly said, having overheard, as he had gotten up from the couch and went to the refrigerator for something to drink. He leaned in the doorway with a can of Coke. “You know Galileo eventually went blind because he used to observe the sun for such long stretches of time while he was looking at sun spots through his telescope?”

“Everyone knows that, Jon,” mom teased him and dad grinned.

“How do you know that?” George wondered, looking up at him from still on the floor.

“I went through a Galileo phase,” he shrugged. “I have a book on him if you want to read it for your class. You might like it.”

“Maybe.”

“He was under house arrest for almost ten years.”

“Really? That’s pretty cool.” George was quiet, thinking that over for a moment. “I guess I’ll pick Galileo because I have to pick someone.”

“That’s the spirit!” Mom grinned.

“I think you’ll like reading about him. Albert Einstein loved him,” dad added.

George sighed heavily and went back to staring at the ceiling. “He’s no George Harrison.”

And then at the same time, mom and dad both said, “No one is.”

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading!! Happy Birthday to George Harrison!
> 
> And what's this? Yep! Jon and Sansa get dressed up and go out for (non-alcoholic) cocktails and appetizers in the next chapter!


	16. Man of the Hour

…

“Oh, mom,” Eleanor breathed, her hands clasped together. “You look _so_ beautiful.”

Sansa smiled, looking at herself in the mirror that stood in the corner of the bedroom. She had to absolutely agree with her daughter. This dress had taken her a couple of weeks to make and she thought it was probably the best work she had ever done. Black and ankle-length with a tulle skirt, she had spent most of her time on the bodice, decorated with hand-stitched bead work. Sansa _felt_ beautiful.

And that was exactly what she wanted for tonight. Though Jon had said it wasn’t, Sansa knew how important tonight was. The Greywater State Hospital project was nowhere near finished. It still had years to go until all four floors would be open and fit for patients but tonight was the unveiling of what it _would_ be. Jon had said that doctors, donors, future employees of the hospital as well as politicians and important families from all over Westeros would all be here tonight to view the finished lobby, some of the doctor’s offices and one patient’s wing which had been complete for tours as well.

Tonight, all of these people would be looking at Jon’s company’s work so far and Sansa wanted to look her best as she stood at his side, beaming with pride.

(Not to mention she wanted to look beautiful because it had been such a long time since she and Jon had had a fancy date night like this and she was beyond excited.)

Sansa turned away from the mirror to look at her daughter. “I think I’m ready,” she decided.

“Definitely,” Eleanor agreed. “Mom?” Her tone changed so dramatically from what it had just been, Sansa immediately was at full attention. 

“Yes?”

Eleanor looked nervous now. “Does Cedric have to spend the night tonight?”

Sansa was confused – very confused – for a brief moment and then she noted that Eleanor had just mentioned one of Brandon’s friends and not the other, Lewys, who was also spending the night at their house that night.

“Has Cedric done something?” She asked, slightly stiff.

Eleanor shook her head and looked down to the carpet. “No. I don’t think he even knows my name.”

Sansa felt a tightness in her chest. Eleanor was ten – close to eleven – and yes, she was that age and of course, she would be getting crushes. Sansa had a new, frivolous crush just about every week when she had been Eleanor’s age but that wasn’t why Sansa felt that tightness now.

She also had had a crush on her brother’s best friend.

With a faint smile, Sansa sat down on the foot of hers and Jon’s bed and patted the space next to her. Eleanor didn’t pause before sitting down at her side. Sansa put an arm around her and kissed her on the head while trying to think of the perfect thing to say to her daughter in this particular situation.

Hers and Jon’s past was hardly clear cut though even though it had quite the happy ending, in Sansa’s opinion, and all Sansa could hope for all of her children was that none of them went through what she and Jon went through before _finally_ and officially getting together.

“If he doesn’t even know his best friend’s siblings’ names then your brother has much dumber friends than I would have thought and you can do much better than that,” Sansa smiled and that did the trick because Eleanor let out a laugh - her body relaxing slightly – and still smiling, Sansa gave her another kiss on the head.

…

“Hey, Sansa! Can you bring down the lint roller with you? Martha got me!” Jon shouted up the stairs.

“I got it!” Sansa shouted back.

He did his best to brush the fur from his black suit as he turned and went back into the kitchen. George, Julia, and Max were sitting at the kitchen table with their plates of pizza that had just been delivered and Brandon, with his two best friends, Lewys and Cedric, were standing at the island, eating their own helpings.

“Alright, listen you three,” Jon said and all of the boys looked at him. “Your mom and I are trusting you tonight. Be smart and don’t be stupid. If anything happens to the kids or Martha or this house, you,” he looked to Brandon. “Will go missing and you two,” he looked to Lewys and Cedric. “Your parents’ will be getting a very angry phone call from a police officer explaining why I had to kill all three of you.”

“Yes, dad.”

“Yes, Mr. Snow.” “Yes, Mr. Snow.”

All three spoke at the same time.

Jon turned his head when Eleanor came down the stairs and into the kitchen. He smiled at her and Eleanor smiled back, taking a paper plate for herself.

“Here you go,” Jon grabbed the smallest box that no one was allowed to touch until Eleanor had – per Jon’s orders. (Not that anyone was fighting him for it.) “Veggie special.”

Eleanor flipped the lid back and saw the small pizza topped with onions, green peppers, mushrooms, and black olives. She practically licked her lips and gave Jon a big smile. “Thanks, dad.”

“Can you go back to eating meat next week?”

“Maybe,” she laughed.

Jon smiled and then looked to the kitchen table. “Max,” he sighed, seeing the boy slipping bits of sausage from his pizza to Martha, who was smartly begging at the boy’s side. “If you didn’t want sausage, why didn’t you take the cheese pizza?” He asked.

“I did want sausage!” Max exclaimed. “But Martha wanted it, too!” He took a bite of his piece of pizza as if to prove that to Jon but then plucked another sausage and tossed it for the Siberian Huskey.

Jon sighed heavier and opened his mouth to tell Max to stop sharing his food with Martha – Max _always_ shared his food with the dog and how long was this picky-eating phase of his going to last because he was five and it had been five years now – but before he could, he turned his head again when he heard steps on the stairs. And this time, when he saw Sansa come down in her dress, he honestly forgot everything he was ever going to say in his entire life.

…

The event had gotten valet parking for the night so after Jon handed his truck keys over and another valet parker helped Sansa down, Jon went around to meet his wife, his arm immediately going around her waist and his other hand taking hers.

“Jon,” Sansa let out a slight laugh as he pulled her away across the large front entrance so they were standing in the somewhat darkness. “What are you doing?”

He didn’t speak. He leaned in and gave her a firm kiss. “I had to do that now since I don’t think I can do that inside,” he told her.

“No, you better not,” she smiled, her hands straightening the black tie he wore. “I heard the mayor, city council _and_ the Warden of the North are all going to be in attendance tonight. Whatever would they think?”

Jon kissed her again. “They’ll be wondering why we even bothered coming at all because I’m going to be way too distracted, watching you all night.” Even in the darkness, he saw her blush and he smiled. “Five kids later and we still got it, baby.”

“Never say that to me again,” she said with as much seriousness as she could muster.

Jon had asked all of his other employees if they wanted to come tonight but everyone had turned him down – except for Myrcella who was going to be here anyway with her father and uncle; the Baratheon Brothers’ presence just as important as Jon’s tonight. He couldn’t blame everyone else for declining. Who really wanted to wear a suit for hours, eating finger foods and making small talk with super important people?

Inside the large front lobby, most everyone had already arrived, standing around, drinking, and eating the foods that were offered on passing trays as they spoke with one another while admiring the work so far.

Sansa gasped as soon as she stepped through the doors. The main reception desk was a large circle in dark wood and hanging from the high ceiling, over the desk, was the most gorgeous chandelier she had ever seen. Jon heard and he smiled.

“I’m not even going to tell you how much that cost. It’s called the Heracleum Chandelier.”

“That makes sense,” Sansa nodded, still looking upwards. “It looks _just_ like cow parsnip. Could we get it for over our kitchen table?” She asked, looking at him.

“Sure, no problem,” Jon readily agreed in a dry tone.

The floor was white vinyl as it was in almost all hospitals with grey specks dotted throughout and the sconces on the walls at even intervals provided a warm light more for aesthetic than purpose.

It seemed as if her parents were waiting for their arrival because they had been there for just under two minutes before Ned and Catelyn came to them through the crowd, both hugging their daughter and then Catelyn hugging Jon and Ned giving him a handshake.

“This is a Hell of a thing, Jon,” Ned said. “This is going to be your magnum opus by the time it’s all done.”

“Hell, I’m thinking that when I finally finish this, I might just retire,” Jon smiled.

…

Jon had spoken with the Mayor of Greywater, various council members as well as doctors who were the best in their respected mental fields and the whole time, Sansa was at his side, charming everyone she met and making Jon seem that much better in their eye’s, Jon was convinced. He couldn’t stop looking at her and smiling at her and his hand was either holding hers or his arm was around her waist.

Robert was already more than a little tipsy and had asked if any of the patient rooms had their beds yet so he could go let a load off for a little bit. Ned had been posing for pictures from all sorts of news outlets and had pulled Jon and Sansa into more than a few. More than one woman had asked Sansa about the dress she wore. Even women from the South had asked her.

“She made it herself,” Catelyn beamed with as much motherly pride as a mother could possibly have.

Finally, Jon and Sansa had managed a moment alone, both getting Shirley Temples from the open bar and helping themselves to a few of the finger foods – crab and cream cheese wontons, sausage-stuffed mushrooms, brie and fig crostini, and beef tenderloin crostini with whipped goat cheese.

“This is all good, don’t get me wrong. But I hope the kids left us some pizza,” Jon said, throwing one of his toothpicks away.

“Agreed,” Sansa nodded, wiping at her mouth with her napkin before throwing that away. She was going to be starving again by the time they got back home.

“Can I take you on a tour?”

“Yes.” Her smile was instant and Jon smiled, too, taking her hand in his.

The hospital was shaped like a bat. That was how Jon explained it. Each floor’s lobby and nurse’s station was in the middle and then the wings stretched out in two different directions. On the first floor, there were doctor’s offices and exam rooms as well as what was going to be a cafeteria and swimming pool as well as a gymnasium and other recreation rooms.

Through security doors, Jon was able to show her the one patient’s wing that was completed – just in time for this evening. They went into the first room, the walls painted a calming pale yellow.

“The way the board of directors explained it to me, the first floor will be for eating disorders, depression, anxiety, bi-polar, and things on that spectrum. Second floor is an overflow of this floor and then that will also house the youth patients. The third floor is for those with serious mental health issues. Psychotic disorders, schizophrenia, impulse control disorders and personality disorders. Those are the walls that will have the padded rooms in each wing so patients can be put in there if need be.”

Sansa shivered at that. She couldn’t even imagine. “And the fourth floor is the prison,” she finished.

Jon nodded and leaned back against the window ledge. “We haven’t even touched the next three floors but we’ve been doing all sorts of walk-throughs and… the third floor scares the shit out of me. First time I’ve felt scared being in this building.”

Sansa turned at his words to look at him. She was quiet, knowing there was more he wanted to say.

“I don’t really believe all of the ghost stories but I feel that if there are ghosts, they come from the third floor.” He looked down to his wedding ring and began to turn it as he talked. “The rooms up there… the patients wrote all over the walls of their rooms and it’s… it’s scary as Hell.”

Sansa walked to him, coming to stand in front of him.

“Makes me think of the people who were in those rooms, writing those things…” He shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t know why it bothers me. I just… I hope they’re in a better place now.” 

With her hands on his cheeks, Sansa leaned in and gave him a soft kiss. “When you’re done with this place, it will never be like how it was, Jon. It’s going to be amazing and it’s going to be able to help so many people who truly need a place like this. And I am so proud of you.”

From her words, Jon closed his eyes and exhaled a breath and Sansa rested her forehead to his.

She was right. Of course she was. So many hours spent here already and still countless more hours to go, he needed to just be reminded of it. This place was needed and Jon was helping by working and making it something again. It was a new age with more ways to help the people who would be here.

It helped to remember that when he spent so many hours away from his family and it helped that Sansa thought the same thing he did. _Really_ helped.

Sansa pulled back and gave him a smile. “Want to get back out there? I’m sure there’s at least a dozen more people who need their pictures taken with the best contractor in all of Westeros.”

“I kind of just want to go back home and eat some pizza,” he said as she took his hands and pulled him back to his feet.

A small group came into the room then, on their own tour, and they all exchanged smiles as Jon and Sansa slipped out, heading back down the hallway towards the front lobby. Jon took her hand and holding it up, he gave Sansa a turn, smiling as she laughed.

“Tough,” she replied to his comment. “You, Jon Snow, are the star of the evening and you just better get used to it.”

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this one! THANK YOU very much for reading! You all are awesome.


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